38 weeks (or so)

So, technically, I'm 38 weeks and 5 days. We're getting SO close! I've had two appointments since the last time I posted. Both have gone well. My blood pressure has gone down thanks to the herbal teas I've been taking (a mix of red raspberry leaf, roasted dandelion root and nettle leaves). It's not the most tasty but I think it's growing on me. I told baby this morning as I was making it that he had to be out in less than 4 days because I don't want to have to buy a whole package of dandelion root tea and have a bunch leftover when he arrives!



Baby is head down. I've been having lots of contractions but none that are too painful or getting and staying close together. No other signs of labor... I did time contractions for awhile last night and they were between 3 and 7 minutes apart, lasting less than 2 minutes. But, they still weren't too uncomfortable. I decided to just go to bed because if I was going into labor I wanted to get as much sleep as possible first! Today I've had some that are a little more uncomfortable and 4 minutes apart, but then it'll be 15 minutes before another non painful one. I think this kid is messing with us!

Next appointment is sometime next week... Unless I go into labor before then!

37 weeks!

Our 37 week appointment went great. Dave and I ran around that morning cleaning and getting the last of the things together that we needed.


My blood pressure is still a little higher than Nancy would like, so I'm continuing with the exercise, lots of greens and protein and I've addded several herbal teas that are supposed to help. I sure hope there is a difference at the next appointment tomorrow! Thankfully my blood pressure is fine when taken lying on my left side- it shows that the high blood pressure is not true hyper tension.


Nancy dropped off the birth pool so we have it halfway blown up leaning against our dining room wall. Thankfully we don't plan on having dinner guests before baby arrives! We have the liner for the pool (to keep it sanitary) and all the necessary attachments for filling it up. The hard part will be emptying it after the birth- Dave is a little unsure of how to go about it. But, I figure this isn't the first time the midwives have faced this question, so they'll figure it out!


The rest of the appointment was talking about the birth, when to call, what to expect, etc. It's SO weird to be at that point now! I feel ready for the most part though...


Our freezer is stocked with plenty of healthy, filling food for the week or so after the birth before my mom arrives. A sample of what I've frozen: Three lasagnes (small size, enough for dinner and lunch the next day), enchilada casserole (we'll probably throw this in the oven right after the birth for everyone - depending on the time of day he's born, of course!), taco meat, sausage cabbage soup, vegetable hamburger soup, Swedish meatballs and lots of muffins and banana bread. We're also going to make sure whenever we run out of something important (i.e. milk, cheese, bread, eggs), that we buy it right away. We don't want to go into labor on Friday night and have nothing in the fridge because we were planning on getting everything Saturday morning!


His clothes and diapers have been washed and organized, just waiting for a tiny little body to put them on! The infant car seat is installed in the car and Dave is taking it to be inspected this week. We'll install the convertible in the truck soon and get that inspected as well when we get the chance. We've got a a little cosleeper for our bed for him to sleep in those first few weeks until we get the crib and can sidecar it to our bed.


I've been having contractions all the time now. They aren't painful or even very uncomfortable, but there have been a lot of them. I thought about trying to time them, but then read an article recommending against timing them until they demand your attention. Makes sense, otherwise, I would have been timing four days worth of contractions with nothing to show for it!


Baby is still kicking up a storm in there. Probably trying to find more room. Carpal tunnel is still annoying me. I think the only thing that will help it now is having this baby. My hands are almost constantly numb and if they aren't numb, they are all tingly feeling.


Oh, and my stomach is officially too big for all my maternity shirts! Only the long tank tops barely cover it. So, I went out and bought some of those short dresses women wear over leggings or jeans- making sure to find the high waisted and very stretchy ones. I might shorten a few of them since I'm not a fan of that look but at least my stretch mark covered belly isn't hanging out anymore!

Belly picture! I'm huge, I know!

36 weeks walking along the Snake River. I just realized that I hadn't posted a picture in awhile. I think I've grown even more in the past week so I'll try to remember to post my 37 week picture after we take it. Also, my stomach was attacked by several angry cats- my stretch marks are super impressive. I'm thinking I might actually post a picture of them.



Some new pregnancy symptoms/ side effects: Braxton Hicks contractions every day and carpal tunnel. I'm pretty sure my right hand middle finger has been numb for more than a week now. I feel like I'm going to drop things and like I have no strength in my hands. Super fun. BH contractions aren't bad so far. A little painful if I'm in the wrong position but otherwise I'm sure they are nothing compared to what the real ones will be like.



Our big appointment is tomorrow! Both midwives will be coming to our house (which we really need to clean, by the way) and going over the birth supplies and answering any questions we have about the labor and delivery.



We are having some issues with our kitchen faucet and we're not sure how we're going to attach the hose to it. The little aerator thing won't unscrew. And, of course, we don't have any pliers so we have to go buy some tonight and hope the thing will come off. Otherwise, we're not really sure how to go about filling up the tub! I suppose we could do without, but I was really looking forward to laboring in the water.



I organized baby clothes the other night. It's nice to finally have that done! Now, I just need to tackle the diapers... I ordered a few more things this week. I just love these diapers with the brightly colored snaps. This is one I bought last night.





Well, that's about it for today. My numb fingers and I are going to find something else to do.

32 week picture and appointment update

This is me in Boise with some funny looking boots. The white part of them is all fur.

Anyway, my 32 week appoitnment was awesome. My blood pressure was a little high the past few appointments and it's gone back down. We're attributing it to extra water, exercise and prayer! Also, I'm well hydrated as well. We've had some issues with that in the past. Apparently I'm one of those I'm-too-cool-for-64-ounces-of-water-to-keep-me-hydrated types... so, I aim for just over 70 ounces a day. I think it's probably because my work keeps the office at 74 degrees- WHO NEEDS TO BE THAT HOT??? We keep our house just above 60 when we are home, 55 at night and when we are out.

Baby boy was being difficult again so she couldn't get his heart rate. He is head down though. He was hiding behind the placenta and kept moving away from the fetascope. But, with all the moving he's been doing, I'm not too worried about not having a heart rate at this point. He's obvisouly healthy since he spends so much time exploring my ribs with his toes.

I ordered my birth kit this morning! Woo hoo! It was just under $70 and includes all sorts of little things that I could get locally, but would probably take me forever to track down. So, it's way easier to just order it all at once. We, of course, need to make sure we have lots of towels and wash cloths on hand (bought a bunch on clearance already) along with a few other things like snacks for me and for the midwives.

So, I only have one more appointment until the big 36 week one! After 36 weeks I'll be able to deliver at home if I go into labor. Also, at this appointment, both my primary midwife (who I've been meeting with at my house since the beginning) and her backup will come. We'll have all the birth supplies ready to go and we'll show them where they will be kept. Also, we will show them where the bathroom is, where things are in the kitchen, etc. Not that our house is very big... Dave will be at that appointment- the first one he'll have been at since the very first! Well, and the doctor's appointment/ ultrasound- but I don't really count that as a real prenatal appointment.

Yikes... the more I think about what we have to do before then, the more I realize there is to do! We'll also be installing the carseats at 36 weeks. The convertible one will go in the truck and the infant seat will go in the car. That way, if we do need to transfer to the hospital, we can take either vehicle.

OK, I'm going to stop thinking about all the things we have to do before then since I'm at work (working hard obviously) and can't do anything to prepare at the moment!

28 weeks! (well more now...)

Here is me in La Push, Washington, at 28 weeks pregnant. It was the day after Christmas and so beautiful, sunny and warm! We got in some exercise and Dave and I were able to get our ocean fix. It's hard moving from someplace right next to the ocean to a city where the biggest body of water is the river.



See, I told you it was warm! No coat!

Anyway, after we got back from our Christmas vacation, I had my 28 week midwife appointment. Baby was difficult again and wouldn't let Nancy get his heartbeat on the fetascope or the doppler! She did get a heart rate from his umbilical cord (which sounds very whooshy on the doppler). She said she likes to establish a baseline for his heart rate so that during labor, she'll know what is normal for him.

I had to get my finger pricked to check my hemoglobin and even though my blood pressure was a little high, she said she can tell that my blood volume has increased from the hemoglobin drop.

From here until 36 weeks, I will be meeting with Nancy every two weeks! I can't even believe we are going to be 30 weeks pregnant at the next appointment!

Well, there is more to write but that will have to wait. We got TONS of stuff for baby recently and I'd like to get some pictures of some of it to go along with the next post. We'll see how I do considering our home computer it being difficult.

26 weeks!

I'm 26 weeks and 3 days pregnant! Less than 100 days until my due date. I keep telling myself to not get too stuck on that date... I want this baby to bake as long as he needs to so a specific date will not help me relax if I go past that. But, it's hard when I have a little ticker on my Facebook page telling me how many days I have left!

So, as you can see, the belly is getting bigger! Little boy moves around like crazy- usually when I'm laying down. When I lay down for the night, he starts kicking and poking. If I get up during the night, he'll kick a little bit when I lay back down. And then, in the morning, after Dave wakes me up, he'll start kicking until I get up.

He'll sometimes kick during the day while I'm at my desk. Yesterday, I'd been typing in ads and hadn't been talking much. When I answered the phone, he started kicking. I'm telling myself it's because he liked hearing my voice. :)

It's only 10 days until Christmas! Dave and I will be bringing back tons of baby stuff from my sisters' houses. Tubs of clothes, a swing and a dresser for baby. As well as anything else they decide they want to get rid of!

While finishing up our Christmas shopping this weekend we browsed the baby sections. There were SO many cute outfits that I was tempted to buy. But, I'm telling myself that once we get all the hand me down clothes here, we'll go through them and then figure out what things we are missing- if he needs a coat/ body suit for the first few cold months, socks, long sleeved shirts, pants, etc. And I need to get myself in the mind set of buying second hand. I should go to Goodwill/ Salvation Army/ St. Vincent's first and then the baby consignment stores in town before going to real stores. It will be cheaper and it is eco friendly to reuse instead of buy new!

And, I've decided to get a crib. We are going to copy my younger sister and take one side off and put it at the same level and right up against our bed. We tend to use up all our bed space, so this way he'll have his own space but he'll be right there for breastfeeding, soothing, diaper changes, etc. So, we are going to check out a baby resale store in town that I know has cribs and then just buy a new mattress. If he was going to be in a separate room while sleeping, I would prefer a new crib, but since he'll only be in it while we are in the room, a second hand one doesn't worry me.

I think that's everything for now... I'm reading the book Active Birth right now. Trying to make sure to get yoga and stretching in every day. I would walk as well, but it's hard when it's icy and snowy outside.

Belly shot, 23 weeks!

I realized I hadn't posted a belly shot recently so here's the most recent one. About 23 weeks, which is really hard to believe!

I'm feeling good. Baby boy is moving around and kicking me a lot. It feels weird sometimes but I still enjoy it.

Gender ultrasound scheduled for...

November 9th! Almost a month earlier than originally scheduled- the doctor's office had a cancellation. And it's only a month away! I'm very excited to find out...

Also, here's a belly shot- 18 and 1/2 weeks.