Tag: pregnancy update

38 Weeks – Waiting

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So we did the version procedure last Thursday, and let me tell you, I do not wish that on my worst enemy. It was so painful!!! She did not flip on her own as I was suspecting maybe she did, turned out she just slid from my right side to my left, which is why I was feeling everything different. My doctor had me come in Wednesday for a sono and check in and she thought we’d be a good candidate for the version still. The Version was SUCCESSFUL! They did get her to turn, and she managed to stay in a head down position, (some babies flip back).

It was the most awful thing I’ve ever experienced though. First off, its such a tease. You check in to labor and delivery, go through all the questions, get dressed in the gown, the belt and all the monitors just like you would if you were having the baby. Except you have to leave empty handed! I had two doctors from my practice do the procedure and it felt like they were just punching me in the stomach for 3 minutes straight. It was quick but felt like forever. After they got her to turn, I don’t know if it was the pain or anxiety or what, but I felt like I was going to pass out, I couldn’t catch my breath and my hands were going numb, so they had to run an IV for fluids and give me oxygen to calm down. I was finally coming around, and then we had to stick around and be monitored for about an hour before we could leave. Fortunately, baby did fine, her heart rate stayed level and she did what she was supposed to do.

I was incredibly sore for the next two days and had to take it easy. I actually wasn’t ready for her to come those days because I really needed a little time to recover. By Sunday I was feeling back to “normal” (meaning, huge and uncomfortable still, but at least not bruised and beaten). So I was ready to start trying anything to get her out. Sunday morning I binge cleaned the whole house and made sure every stitch of laundry was washed. Nothing. I went and got a mani and pedi, but the foot rub part was sub-par.  We went to a friends house for dinner and I tried a glass of wine (It worked for Ada). But nothing. And I tried eating a whole tub of pineapple! Still no baby!

Since I didn’t include a 37 week picture in last weeks post, here is the one I did remember to take after I posted my last update.

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And of course as soon as I start taking pictures, Ada wants in on the action, so one of me and my big girl as well…..

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Here’s the 38 week update, I eliminated a few questions that are obvious so we could focus on more important things!  We just had a doctors appointment this morning so I’ll start with that:

Baby is still head down as far as we can tell by feeling. she said I was about 2 cm dilated, so we’re making some progress. But she said I was only measuring 36 weeks and I had a lot of amniotic fluid still, which makes it more likely that she could still flip back again. So they decided that I’ll have one more check in on Monday the 12th with the Doctor and then if she doesn’t make an appearance on her own by the 13th we’re going to induce. So we’re waiting but the good news is that I won’t go past the 13th. To have a date and to be avoiding the c-section makes me feel much better. I’m so anxious but I’m going to try and cherish this last week of sleep and calm in my house. Its day by day how I am feeling, yesterday was awful and frustrating and uncomfortable and then today I’ve been feeling much better and even did a 1.6 mile walk on the treadmill to try and get something going.

How far along?  38 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: up 34 pounds, I made a 4 pound jump this past week. I always pack it on in the end!

Stretch marks? Nothing yet.

Sleep: Sleeping ok. Not great. Since we did the flip, I’ve been sleeping with a pillow between my knees to give her a little more room to drop. It feels better but it makes turning from side to side really difficult. I usually wake up several times and sometimes have a hard time getting back to sleep, mostly because my mind races.

Best moment this week: Best and Worst I would say. Getting her to flip. I’m very glad we can try to do this birth natural now as I was very upset that I’d have to go through c-section recovery. Especially since we have a trip to Florida planned in May and I’d like to start getting back to myself sooner then later. I’m also very happy to have a scheduled induction in case she doesn’t come in the week. I at least am back to having an end in sight.

Miss Anything? Same answer as always, just feeling normal. Just so done with this pregnancy!

Movement:  Lot’s of movement still, trying to pay close attention to what I feel where so I know what position she is in, but basically I haven’t got a clue how she is jammed in there. I’m glad the doctor today confirmed that she is pretty sure she’s got her head low, a butt on top and the heartbeat was right where she would expect it to be.

Food cravings:  Still a lot of sweets. Probably where the 4 pounds in one week came from. I made a special trip out to Dessert Deli the other night because I wanted something good, that wasn’t jelly beans or Hershey kisses. So I found my way to these beauties…IMG_0246

Labor Signs: I had about an hour and half Sunday night when I thought maaaybe. I had some really bad cramps and I timed contractions for about an hour and they started 10 minutes apart, then 11, then 13, then 18…. and then I fell back to sleep because I lost hope as they started getting further apart rather then closer together. I woke up Monday morning feeling worse then any other day and so I was hopeful that maybe something was going on, but that day came and went and now here we are at Tuesday, still waiting again. Fortunately I was feeling better today then I was yesterday, makes waiting a tad easier.

Wedding rings on or off?  Rings are still on, I’m pretty happy about that actually despite packing on the pounds recently.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Moody! So over it and ready to meet my new little girl. I’ve waited this long and I’ve gone through hell and back to get her here, so I’m ready, its time to move on.

Looking forward to: Meeting her within the next week! Getting her out and on the road to our new normal. Getting my body back to being just mine again and watching Ada become a big sister. She has waited so long for this and I know how anxious I am and I understand time and what’s going on, this girl is so impatiently waiting for her best friend and she doesn’t even know it yet!

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Sunday morning snuggles in her favorite place, with “her baby”. 

And here’s a 38 week bump. Another bathroom selfie, no make up, and pjs… its all I’ve gotten around to this week! Getting huge!

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36 weeks- We have a date!

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Staying true to what her sister did to me, this one decided she wanted to be a breech baby as well! I had a doctors appointment last Friday and after getting checked to see if we were making any progress yet, she said the head was still way up high and she wanted to do an ultrasound to see if she was even head down. She was not. Its her head that has been pushing up against my ribs and making it hard to breathe lately. So we wanted to have a plan in place just in case she did not flip on her own, so we set a date for March 13, 2018. The plan is to head to the hospital Tuesday around 11am after dropping Ada off at school and having the most normal morning we can, and then to have the c-section at 1pm. It’s a perfectly organized plan right now (which my Type A personality loves) but I just KNOW its never going to happen like that so in reality I’m ready for anything! Part of me doesn’t like this plan though because I feel like dropping Ada off at school that day will be so emotional knowing that’s the last time she’ll be my only baby! I would almost rather not know that moment is sneaking up on me.

I’m not a fan of the c-section plan either. Last time it was about all I had prepared for but I was so glad we were able to do it naturally, the recovery was so much better and after just having my appendix out last May, I now know what major abdominal surgery entails! I got an infection after my appendix surgery too and had to be on the worst antibiotics ever, so I’m nervous to have to go through something like that again while also trying to take care of a newborn and a 4 year old. Anyone who has c-section tips I would greatly appreciate it.  Really hoping she can flip herself around before it comes to that!

That was about all the news we got, which was enough. She said I am all baby and very full. All the movement is a great sign that we have a healthy baby, so I hope that continues even though its uncomfortable.

Here’s a picture of our little babe, who has her head nestled under the placenta like a pillow right up under my ribcage. She only wanted to give us a side profile and not a nice front facing portrait. The tech even tried to switch it over to 3D so we could see her face, but she was not having it. IMG_0102

I guess we have to wait a little longer to see what she looks like! As for everything else, I’ll recap in a quick survey below:

How far along? 36 weeks 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: 30 pounds- hit that round number.

Maternity clothes? Yes, same answer as every week. 

Stretch marks?  Fearing I have one mark starting to show and my belly button isn’t looking so great, I’m ready to get her out before these turn into anything more. 

Sleep: I have more good nights then bad right now. Some nights I toss and turn a lot, but more often I am passing out hard and staying asleep most of the night. Those nights I wake up really stiff though because I don’t think I move around at all.

Best moment this week: Knowing we won’t have to go past March 13th.  Don’t love that its a c-section, but I’m ready to do whatever I need to in order to get her out safely. Its nice to have an end in sight without worrying about being overdue. I am nervous that I’m going to go into labor now with a breech baby, and afraid she’ll actually start coming and I will have to deliver that way. I’m going to chat with my doctor about this on Friday when I am back again.

Miss Anything? Feeling like me. I feel like I am 90 years old every time I get up. My whole body is starting to get achy.

Movement:  Tons. Now that I’ve seen her on the sono, I can identify all her parts on my belly as she moves around. I feel like I will KNOW exactly if or when she flips because everything will feel different. For now all the movement is in the same places all the time.

Food cravings:  Shredded wheat cereal and all.the.sweets!! I’ve been so bad with sugar. Anything at all sweet I want it. Candy, cookies, pop. You name it. And I can’t eat just one. I have to have like 5 cookies. BAD.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Have you started to show yet: I’m starting to get the comments about how big I am. It still always blows my mind that people would say those things. There is no need to point out the obvious characteristics of a person. Just don’t say it.

Gender prediction: Still a girl, our sono confirmed last week.

Labor Signs: Lots of braxton hicks. Timing them in the evenings. I think I just notice them more when I am sitting still at night. I get some other odd pains here and there and every time I think it could be it. We’re in the zone where you just don’t know.

Belly Button in or out? Out. Leave it at that!

Wedding rings on or off?  Rings are all still on, some days they feel a little tight. But I have not taken them off yet. Unfortunately they will have to go before we go into the hospital now since we’re doing a c-section.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody at night for sure still. Overall I don’t think I’ve been too bad. I complain a lot but, its my right to at the moment. The uncomfortableness and the “pain” I am getting from having her head under my ribs is probably the main factor. I think if she was in the correct position I’d be feeling a bit better. My whole body is achy and my energy levels are running on empty but overall I feel like its just one day at a time and one day closer.

Looking forward to: March 13th or sooner! I’m fairly confident my plan will not go according to plan, I figure that just seems too easy. So being that we are already less then 3 weeks away from that date, we can only be closer to meeting our little lady! I’m not sure if the discomfort I have now is better or worse then what I will be feeling after a c-section (or even a natural birth) since those are both pretty rough on the body too, but I am looking forward to those feelings when you start to feel a little better everyday rather then a little worse.

All I have this week is another bathroom selfie. Sorry, Enjoy!

 

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34 Weeks

Published on by stephaniemags3 Comments

I skipped over a 33 week update, didn’t really have very much to say! Dan was home sick all last week, so Ada and I have been trying to stay away! We thought it was the start of the flu, but I think it was just a really bad cold, fever took all week to break! Ada and I somehow managed to stay healthy (so far!)

He bounced back enough to go out and celebrate my birthday on Saturday. I tried to get Ada a babysitter (aka Grandma) so we could have a date night but she really wanted to celebrate my birthday with me, so we took her along. Between Dan not feeling great and me just totally over being pregnant neither of us really wanted to get all dressed up for a late night out anyway so it worked out just fine. We went to 800 Maple and it was outstanding! We both ordered the prime rib, which sped up our dinner since it was already cooked and ordered scallops as an appetizer, they were amazing! After dinner, there wasn’t anything that jumped out at me on the dessert menu, so we went to Dessert Deli, down the street and we each picked out our own dessert (cheesecakes) to bring home. Dan and Ada sang happy birthday to me, Ada fell asleep on the couch by 8:15 and Dan and I watched a movie in bed and called it a night early!

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As far as baby updates go, she is really beating me up lately. Movements are so strong and she moves constantly. I am so uncomfortable in every position. We have a doctors appointment tomorrow, I don’t know what I expect to happen at that appointment but I just want someone to tell me “she’ll be here early, don’t worry, not much longer” which I know is totally crazy.  I feel like I can’t make it another day, yet with every passing day I realize I’ve gotten through another one! I guess that’s why they say “Take it one day at a time”.  Ada and I made a countdown chain for us, we’re counting down to Baby and St. Patricks Day. Hopefully baby is here by then though! (P.S How adorable is Ada’s new haircut???)

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How far along? 34 weeks 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: 27 lbs. The scale has not moved much lately which I like to see, a pound or two depending on the time of day.

Maternity clothes?  Yes, the same 5 things all the time and only leggings now, I don’t even have the energy to pull jeans on over the bump. I stand in my closet just staring at all my clothes trying to find something new, and end up pulling out an old faithful.

Stretch marks?  Nothing yet. I don’t even have that dark line on my belly that I had with Ada. I don’t recall when that showed up with her, but I feel like I’m pretty far along now and I know I had it sooner then this with her!

Sleep: Actually sleeping fairly good. I’m not sure how I am sleeping so good, she must actually settle down and go to sleep at night too, because the way she moves all day, I couldn’t sleep through it. Some nights are better then others though.

Best moment this week: Celebrating my birthday! 32 is nothing special, but I had a relaxing day on Saturday, got a mani and pedi with my best friend who is due in about two weeks, followed by an hour of roaming around Target with a coffee, by myself and a fun night out with my little family. My parents, my sister and her family all celebrated with me Monday night with a little pizza party, and I couldn’t be happier then to just spend time with them all. 32 is going to be a really great year for us!! My hubby also surprised me with a beautiful flower bouquet that was delivered to the house.

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(This picture is a few days after my b-day, they still are beautiful but some of the roses are a bit droopy now)

Miss Anything? My old clothes!!! I dread getting dressed every morning, I am soooo looking forward to expanding my wardrobe again. I used to do Stitch Fix, which I love!! I stopped because I really didn’t want to be getting anything I couldn’t wear forever (or try on) since its not the cheapest place for clothes, and I sooo can’t wait to start that up again!

Movement:  Like Crazy! Ada feels her all the time, which I love. She’ll talk to the baby to get her to move or when she is kicking me and I say ow, Ada will come over and tell the baby to stop hurting mommy! Bless her heart! I can feel actual parts moving around, which are rock hard now and I’m pretty sure she’s head down which is great! Ada wasn’t flipped over until the very, very end and we had scheduled a c-section for one week early, luckily she flipped and came on her own a week earlier then that. I’m praying this baby wants to make a 2 week early appearance as well.

Food cravings:  Nothing specific still, just hungry ALL the time and then can only eat an ounce of food. I eat half my lunch around 10:30 and then the rest around 1pm. By 3pm I’m starving again and my office hasn’t had any good snacks lately, which results in me walking to Starbucks for a coffee and sweet treat.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope, somehow both Ada and I have avoided all the sickness going around this winter, which has been crazy bad! Lots of hand washing, hand sanitizers, Emergen-c drinks, early bedtimes, and lots of water!

Gender prediction: Still my little lady as far as I know! Still solid on her name, and sure enough that I ordered her Easter Basket with the letter initial on it, so let’s pray we don’t change our minds now!

Labor Signs: Lots of low pressure and more braxton hicks. They seemed to slow down a bit the last few weeks,  I was still getting them but less intense. Now they are getting more intense again and much more frequent. Most days I am actually starting to track the frequency because they feel like a lot. Still very random but usually seeing 2-3 per hour! Yikes!

Belly Button in or out? Way out, but not painful at all really anymore and much squishier. I can always push it in, but it just pops back out again.

Wedding rings on or off?  All rings still on. In general, I don’t think my face or anything looks like I’ve gained much weight. I think its mostly baby weight, which I’m really happy about. My feet get a little swollen when I leave them down for awhile and my shoes will feel tight, but my fingers and rings all seem to be normal size, they slide on and off easily still.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty moody.  I start off the day great, and I’m usually good at work until about 3pm when I just start to get real uncomfortable, tired and I’m just done with the day. I feel bad because that means my co-workers get the normal happy me and my family gets the tired, moody one at home. Coming home at 5:30 and having to do dinner, dishes, baths, pjs, homework, playtime etc. when I just want to plop on the couch is hard. We’ve been ordering out a lot, which I’ve just given up caring about, it is what it is. I’ve also noticed my patience level with Ada is lacking again. I feel bad, I get bad mom guilt when I loose my temper, followed by my sad thoughts that these are my last days with just her.

Looking forward to: My doctors appointment on Thursday, like I said for some reason I feel like they should tell me some good news. I don’t know if its wishful thinking, or nervousness or maybe my gut instincts, but I feel like she is coming sooner then later.  As much as I just want this pregnancy to be over, part of me is just still in shock that she actually WILL be here in a few short weeks, regardless of whether she is early or not, she is coming soooo soon!! Its just starting to hit me that these are our last few weeks as a family of 3. Having Ada in our life has meant that life is constantly changing through different phases and her growing into a real person, we’ve learned to just go with the flow. I feel like changing our family dynamic is just another part of those changing phases. I really want to embrace the idea that these are our last days with just Ada, but I am so looking forward to watching her grow into her role as a big sister, she already loves this baby so much and I know that adding this little one to our family will be just fine, we’ll all be just fine and I can’t wait! (Now I’m crying!)

Here is a terrible picture of me that Ada took, I changed it to black and white because I look so dang tired in it. Maybe something new to report for next week after my appointment tomorrow!

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Bump Update: 17 Weeks

Published on by stephaniemags2 Comments

17 weeks and counting…. The good news is that I haven’t had a headache in almost a week now, (at least not one bad enough to have to take anything). I’ve been managing them with one cup of coffee a day! Maybe its coincidence and maybe its caffeine, either way, its working, so we’re going to keep this up for a little while. Not to mention I’ve just simply needed the caffeine to function. If I want to get anything done in the evenings after 5pm I need it.

We are only 2 days away from closing on the house!!! I know you are probably just as excited to hear me stop talking about it! The current house is about 90% packed up now, we’ve cancelled all our utilities at the old house effective this weekend and have everything switched to the new place! That was a full time job in and of itself to get accomplished! My patience level right now sits at about a 5 out 10, so it takes very little to send me over the edge. Just ask my husband!

So here’s what else is going on in week 17!

How far along? 17 weeks  4 days

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, scale is still in a box!

Maternity clothes? Same answer as last week

Stretch marks?  No

Sleep: Same as usual, Ada sleeps, I sleep. I feel like I’ve been in a deeper sleep then usual lately. If I do get woken up I’m usually startled, and out cold until my alarm goes off. I haven’t even been hearing Dan come into bed lately, which is so unusual for me.

Best moment this week: We closed on the sale of our house yesterday! We’re renting back from the purchasers for the week until we close on our new place Friday and then we have the weekend to get out. So glad this week is finally here!

Have you told family and friends: Yes, most everyone close to us knows. I’ve told a few more co-workers as it happens to come out. Still not something that comes up all that frequently!

Miss Anything?  Wine! (again) With all the stress of moving, It wold be really nice to just sit back and have a glass of wine in the evening. I think it could have helped this past weekend when I went over the edge about a few things!

Movement:  Yes! Feeling little flutters more frequently now. Still very subtle and not that often. This past weekend is when I think it picked up a notch and I started noticing it more, not to be mistaken with gas or anything else now.

Food cravings:  Still if see something then I want it. Really wanted a coke float yesterday, so I made one. Not much else is on the craving list. I made a ton of precooked meals last week that I could just throw in the oven in toss away baking sheets, and consume on paper plates, so that I could start packing dishes and pots and its seriously been the best thing I’ve ever done! (I might do a post about it!) I’ve had all these meals this week that I could have ready within 10-30 minutes of walking in my house and I don’t have to make a mess or take up time cooking. Plus we’ve had leftovers to take to lunch, so we’re saving money on eating out. My pregnant self and my moving self has loved this!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: I’ve felt really good this week. Tired, but I haven’t felt sick at all. Its been really awesome to wake up everyday feeling like myself again, an anxious to move and a little less patient version of myself, but not a sick one.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, my belly is growing. Looking and feeling pregnant, but I’m not sure a stranger would say anything yet for fear of offending me in case I just put on a little weight. Luckily, I have put on weight but for good reason! 🙂

Gender prediction: Next week!! My sister also turns 30 next week and we’re having a little get together at our new house to celebrate and I promised her a little gender reveal party as well at that time! SO excited!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Both. haven’t had too much pain this week, only once in awhile, but nothing unbearable.

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I’ve been a bit moody, but I’ll blame it on the stress of moving. It doesn’t take much to tick me off, and I had a few moments this weekend where I needed to step away from everything to cool off. I feel bad being short with Ada when its other things stressing me out, she doesn’t understand. I also just feel bad in general that we’re not able to give her as much attention as I normally would. She does a great job playing and entertaining herself while we are busy loading boxes and PODs, but when she says “Mom, can you play with me?” she breaks my heart. I want nothing more then to sit down and play, but the clock is ticking on getting the house packed and I try to keep my perspective and take a few minutes to sit down and color with her, or slow down and sit a little while longer at the table with her while she finishes dinner. She’s only this little for a short time, and I die a little inside when I think about when she won’t want me to play with her, or even in about 5 months when my attention is not solely on her anymore but also a little baby! Another reason why this move cannot come soon enough and we can get back to normal living.

Looking forward to: See my last sentence above! We need a little normalcy for awhile before our world gets flipped upside down again. I am so looking forward to being settled in, we’re so close now I can taste it!

No bump pic this week since I totally forgot and its what delayed me from posting this sooner. But here are just a couple from our chaotic life right now.

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