Let me start this with how much I have loved being pregnant.   I love having someone with me 24/7.  There has never been the fear of being alone.  I talk to her as if she can comprehend.  I’ve learned her patterns and how she responds to some things that I do.  The love I feel for this baby is almost over whelming at times.  Everytime I hear her little heartbeat I cry. 

All that being said, I had no idea how hard it was going to be at the end.  I remember being that lady that said she would do anything to feel miserable, just to be pregnant.  Up until the past few weeks, I’ve welcomed all the sleepless nights, heartburn, backaches, constant trips to the bathroom, etc…  But now, I’m not good at being miserable.  The constant pain is just too much.  It’s only getting worse. 

A  few weeks ago I was taken off of work due to pain and pressure in my pelvis and swelling.  The swelling has mostly subsided since I’m able to put my feet up during the day.  But the pelvic pain is bad, very bad.  As of today it’s extremely painful to walk.  We went to BRU tonight and I almost ended up in tears.  Walking was my only saving grace.  It’s was the one thing I could do that didn’t hurt. 

It’s even too painful to go to bed.  If getting in and out of bed isn’t painful and hard enough, just laying on my side is torture.  Tonight, I went to bed and immediately started crying it hurt so bad.  My husband is frustrated because there isn’t really anything he can do.  He’s been great throughout this whole pregnancy. 

I have another appointment tomorrow.  I need to know what my options are.  If there hasn’t been any progress, I may just break down.  For the last two weeks, I’ve done all the old wives tales to get this labor started except the castor oil.  That scares me.  Spicy foods, squats, sex, long walks, etc…  You name it, it’s been done.  I’m done.

Not much is going on in there.   Still 1 cm dilated.  Her term was “a loose 1 cn, so almost 2″.  Still 80% effaced.  The only progress made is she has dropped a little more into the pelvis to a 0 station.   

Warning – TMI!  I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t like internals.  I want to know what’s going on in there, but they are really uncomfortable, make me very crampy and make me bleed for 1-2 days.  Right now, I’m sitting in my recliner and I can feel the blood leaking out.  Then I get nervous and run to the bathroom to make sure my water hasn’t broken.  Ugh. 

Something that pissed me off: A lady, her SO and a 2 month old baby are checking out/scheduling next visit.  She asked me how far along I was and then told me she was pg with #2 already.  Normally, I wouldn’t give a crap, but she had fucking food stamps peeping out of her purse.  Nice.  Thanks bitch.  I know where my tax dollars are going.

Woot!

37 weeks

Today was my weekly.  They gave me my H1N1 shot then took me back to the exam room.  I mentioned to the nurse that I was in extreme discomfort while sitting.  So of course, it took the doc longer than normal to get into the room.  I was miserable and in tears by the time she came in. 

So she did her normal thing.  Baby is measuring right on time (37 weeks) and heart rate is perfect.  Then she went in for the internal (owowowow).  I’m still at 1cm, 80% efaced and 0 station.  However, she stripped my membranes while she was in there. 

I have a short torso and there is no more room for baby.  She can tell that the pressure on my pelvis is very painful and since I’m full term, she sees no problem if I go into labor.  So she just started the process that might move things along. 

Then she wrote an order to take me off of work immediately.  You don’t even know how this makes me feel.  For the past few days, I’ve not slept.  Sitting up straight is pretty much impossible and agonizing.  Driving sucks.  Being off of work, I don’t have to stress about getting a good night’s sleep.  I can lay down whenever I want.  I don’t have to drive or sit at a desk. 

Relief.

36w6d

I haven’t slept since Sunday night.  My ears hurt, have a headache and my heart is racing.  I was almost half way to work when I called the boss and he talked me into turning around and go back home.

The triage nurse (whom I love love love) told me that this start of fall season has reeked havoc on their 3rd Tri patients.  They’ve had many complaints about sinus pressure.   She recommended sudafed and tylenol.  The headache is probably associated with the pressure and my racing heart/not sleeping is normal at this stage.

Annnnnnnd I had contractions last night.  Woot!!  In the middle of the night mind you.  I got out of bed and went to the basement to lay in my recliner, hoping it would help me sleep and then bam!  They were mild and probably BHs since they were erratic and not really timeable, but now I know what to expect.  They have since gone away. 

Next appointment is tomorrow.

36w5d

1 cm dilated and -1 station, (station pic below).  Of course I’m bleeding and cramping now.  But I do like progress!

That’s what I’m calling them.  The once a week invasion into the other side.  And since my cervix sucks ass (we’ve been over this in past posts) I get to bleed and cramp more than normal folk.  Yay!  That means I’m winning. 

Last week’s progress had nothing to write home about, cervix just slightly thinning.  Monday night I had red spotting for no apparent reason.  Could be the beginning of losing the plug.  Also my hands have been super swollen.  More than normal.  Usually, they start un-swelling around 10am or so.  Yesterday, they never did. 

I go back today and will tell her about my hands. 

Today’s pics:

35w5d

So I’m at work, in the bathroom, washing my hands and an instructor walks in and this is how the scholarly dicussion goes.

Her: “How much longer?”

Me:  ”Another month”

Her: “Ooh a Christmas baby”

Me: “No, a Thanksgiving baby, we are in October”

Her: “Oh yah, I always forget about November”

Me: blank stare

33w5d

Today was another 2 week appointment.  I am still in denial about how fast this pregnancy has gone by.  At this point, I can’t imagine life without her inside me wiggling around.   The doc said that was normal and even she felt “alone” after having her children. 

I have one more 2 week appointment on 10/15 (35 weeks).  This will be my first internal pelvic exam.  Then we move on to weekly appointments.  Ahhhhhhh!!

We also talked about positioning.  At night when I’m lounging in my recliner she’s usually very active.  You can see the belly shape move and get distorted.  I had no clue if what I was seeing move was her head or her butt.  The doc thinks her butt is bleow my right breast, making her head down and legs under left breast.  I haven’t felt any painful rib kicks as of yet, but I’m sure those are coming. 

No weight gain in the last two weeks and bp is 110/70.  She is measuring perfectly at 33 weeks.

I’m gonna have to give it a thumbs up. 

We registered online and made sure the items were available in the store.  Every so often when we were out and about, we would stop at Target just to see what they had available and I updated the registry accordingly.  One of my friends even called and asked some questions about some bath items and warned me about what one particular Target was offering. 

I’ve heard that their return policies were kind of hairy, so I made sure everything that needed to be returned was added to the registry.  There were several items given to us at the shower that were duplicates and even more things that we didn’t need.  Most of those were clothes that were completely the wrong season. 

Well, we went yesterday to return all stuff and ended up with about $200 to spend on things we still needed.  It felt good to get those things off the list.

So, all in all, I had a great experience at Target.

There was a card in the mail yesterday (hand delivered) from our neighbors.  How they knew it was our anniversary yesterday is still a mystery.  We don’t know them very wel  at all.  The weird thing is the card said: “husband’s name and Megan”.  LOL

Thanks neighbors that we don’t know that well, we do appreciate the sentiment.  But if you are going to hand out Happy Anniversary cards, get the names right.

I am just amazed at the generosity of our friends and family.

My sister-in-law made the cake.

Over the past few months, I have been taking bibs, onesies, hats and blankets to my mom’s house for her to use as decor.

I got to see some friends that I haven’t seen in a long time. Seriously, too long. I hope it’s not that long until I see them again.

Latest pics of my bump. 31w2d

It came on with no warning, that’s why I think it was hormonal. Nothing triggered it. No one pissed me off. I didn’t stub my toe. Just a good old-fashion breakdown.

It was the craziest thing. I was making dinner last night and about to slice up some velveeta for the broccoli casserole and just started crying. Out of no where. The man thought something was wrong and I ended up laughing. WTF??

Ten minutes later I was in horrible pain. My back hurt so bad, I was almost in tears. I couldn’t stand, couldn’t sit, couldn’t walk, nothing. Then I remember reading that you can stretch your back by holding onto the tops of doorways. So I tried that and I could barely reach the frames with my fingertips on my tiptoes. Ugh. Then I leaned over the counter and just like the turn of a switch, it disappeared. Gone. It was very odd.

31 weeks today

Just my quick 2 cents.

Tribute to Michael Jackson: love
Russell Brand’s pants: dude – I can tell what Religion you are.
Lady Gaga: seriously, wtf?
Kanye West: bad form, glad you got kicked out.
Beyonce: love
K Stew’s hair: love

NEW MOON TRAILER:  ::dies::

I remember before the wedding, we would come home almost everyday and there would be a package on our front porch. Our friends and family were so generous.

Well, today, the Target Fairy visited our house. I was kind of confused because I hadn’t ordered anything. So I opened the box and to my surprise was a few things off the registry from my sister-in-law! She can’t make it to the shower since she lives 5 hours away and is also due to have their 3rd baby in 4 weeks. xoxoxo

Here’s what we got:

I won’t be displaying every gift we get in the future, but this was the first one and it goes with the nursery decor. =)

I had a dream last night that I just pushed her out with no problems, pain or discomfort. Yah right. Nothing in my life has ever been that easy. Ever.

The funny thing is I saw her. She was so beautiful. I wonder if she will look like that when I do get to meet her.

My baby girl. I love saying that and can’t get enough of it.

28 weeks

We signed up for some classes today. I booked a breast feeding class and the man registered for a “new dads only” class. We both signed up for two in depth informational classes about birth and newborns. Hopefully we’ll get into them. They are free from the hospital that we are delivering at, but fill up fast.

We also started operation “It’s Already Ready Already”. Today, I made a few batches of Pesto Pasta Chicken Bake. One for tonight’s dinner and leftovers and 2 smaller batches for future dinners. I can’t tell you how many people have told me to go to those places where you can cook a bunch of dinners ahead of time and freeze. So we decided to go ahead and start this process.

27w4d

Well, that flew by.

Went to the doc yesterday. I can’t believe my last two visits to her have been scheduled. Meaning, I didn’t have to go in between yesterday’s appointment and the previous one unplanned. Woot! Did the glucose test. It wasn’t as bad as I have heard. It was orange, cold and I downed it in seconds to not prolong the inevitable. Not sure when the results come in for that.

Last checkup, she was measuring 2 weeks ahead. Yesterday she is measuring just one week ahead. Silly growth spurts. Although, this makes me very happy she’s not getting too big too fast.

Now I start going to the doc every 2 weeks.

There was a yardsale down the street today. I/we never go to yardsales. Well, they said it was a multi-family one and it was close, so I got up at the buttcrack of dawn to check it out. I have a collection of Little Golden Books (mostly Disney), so that’s what I look for.

I found a Scooby Doo one!! The Haunted Carnival for 5 cents. What a bargain.

Then we cleaned my side of the garage. Filled up 2 garbage cans. We plan on putting some (not wire) storage shelves that will actually hold all our crap soon, so this is prep work.

Then we moved the man’s desk and computer into the office. His was out in the basement in the main room. We decided we needed that space soon for a pack-n-play. Later on down the road, it will be her play area. So, now we put a bookshelf there that hold odds and ends. Sooner or later, it will hold more fundtional things we need for baby. Then I’m sure it will turn into toy storage.

I took a picture today from my view. I’ve lost the sight of my feet when standing straight up and looking straight down.

26w1d

Holy crap! I’m 25 weeks pregnant. Who would have ever thought that me, pmarie, would be 25 weeks pregnant? I remember that time in my life when I didn’t even want kids. That seems like so long ago. For the past two and a half years, having a baby is all I’ve thought about.

25weeks

I am shockingly 24 weeks pregnant today. Supposedly the baby has a chance of survival outside the womb if the worst were to happen at this point. I’d rather my little hiccupper bake for much longer.

Not much new to report. The doc took me off of the Metformin in the last visit. She wants to see if I really need it anymore. I’ll be off of it for a month by the time my glucose test comes around so we’ll see.

Some updated nursery pics:

Since the kind doc put me on restricted activity, I’ve lost my mind to boredom. Seriously, my mind is numb. Normally this time of year, I’m outside doing the landscaping, pruning bushes, pulling weeds, making sure everything looks just right. Now – nada. My yard looks like crap because I refuse to dictate to the man how to do it. He can pull weeds and such, but he doesn’t get the whole weed. Don’t even get me started on that.

His garden looks like crap because he refuses to pinch off the shutes in the tomato plants. Now his plants are growing wide and not tall.

There are still tulip and lily remains in the beds. I can’t even look at the line of hostas along the back of the house. It’s terrifying.

I was able to get in a few potted plants before the latest fiasco. Those are surrounded with viney things that are getting out of control. So I shall just keep on ignoring the fact that my last 2 years of hard work on this house has gone to shit.

This past weekend was unseasonably cool. So he did get out to the back yard and was able to get rid of most of the weeds, but he has no clue what’s a weed and what’s a legit plant. This cracks me up. Today, you bet I’ll be going out there at least with some weed spray and let him add mulch.

Next appointment is Wednesday.

And what a huge difference the last two weeks have made! 22w2d

It was too easy until the last few weeks. I take stool softeners every night before bed. Normally it works fine. Recently, they have started failing me. In the last two weeks, the only thing that has helped, less a diet consisting of only apples, brocolli and cardboard cereal, is Starbucks.

I want my cheese. I need my cheese….and chocolate…..and peanut butter.

Until now I haven’t had a problem. After three days, I consider it a problem. This is going to be an expensive (but tasty) solution.

Last week, I found a certain crib on Target.com that I fell in love with. In the description, it said it can be found in stores. Awesome! I put in my zip code and it shows limited availability in about 5 stores near me.

I go to Target today to see it in person and absolutely loved it. It’s the Canton 4-in-1 Convertible Crib by Delta. Here’s a pic.

Of course they didn’t have one there we could buy and take home. Why would they? I’m not that lucky. They were nice enough to check the other stores to see if there was one in my city.

None. Not one store had one in stock I even had them check the two biggest cities closest to me and they were no-goes. They sold out in early June. OK now I’m pissed. Not only do they have it advertised on-line that it can be found in select stores, but these stores have it on display and you can’t buy it. For over a month they have been sold out, but still have it on disply? Are you kidding me? They are forcing you to pay another $90 in shipping. I was so mad and the manager couldn’t figure out why they still had it on display. She was very sorry or a good actress, not sure which.

So when we got home, I went back to searching and found this one. It’s a Simplicity Providence 4-in-1 Crib.

It got great reviews and they didn’t charge tax or shipping! Now we wait. It should be noted that this one did NOT come from Target.