Weekend Update

So Friday night, Nate and I talked and decided that while yes, at 37 +4 weeks was a bit too early to have the baby, after this weekend, I was going to 'get things going'. I would absolutely hate to take it easy, and do the bare minimum, and then 1 of 2 things will happen: 1) I go over or 2) I will have this crazy long, horrific 2nd pregnancy labor because I have been taking it easy, and trying to slow things down! LOL Although I am perfectly fine with going over, then we always run the risk over going 'too far over' (by doctor's standards) and dealing with the thought of them wanting to induce... yuck.

So... I have decided to start drinking my red raspberry tea, and on Monday morning, I will start my 2-a-day walks. I was going to start my 'old wives tales' menus for dinners, beginning Monday night, but I think I'll wait until Thursday now... and get Nate through 1 more shift at work :) Or maybe we'll do italian on Tues., mexican on Thursday, and our hot-fried-and spicy on Friday... which is what did it for Tyler! Hmmm... that sounds like a good plan! :)

Sherry is off this week (just out of the office, not out of town!) so I will be seeing the NP tomorrow. I am assuming she will want to check me. I'll post tomorrow with any updates...

38 Week Appointment

We went in to see Sherry today, and it was pretty funny because she came in and said, "I did not think you would make it until today!" And we said, I know, we didn't either!!

She did her usual, measured the baby and listened to it's heart beat. He/she still sounded good. (Sounded 130-140's) She asked how I was feeling and I told her ok. Still have some random strong contractions, but tons of my normal Braxton Hicks. She said to continue to take it easy... the longer the baby stays in, the better. She wanted to check me and I agreed as long as she could do it 'gently' and not stir things up!! LOL! So she did.

I am 2 cm dilated, 80% effaced, and my cervix is still posterior, but very, very soft. She seems to think we will have the baby in the next week.

I am really hoping it is not Thursday or Friday - but I know Mother Nature likes to do things her way, so whatever happens, happens!! We would actually really like to make it until at least next Monday, so we will see!!

Still Pregnant :) Update

Just wanted to update...

Yesterday (Sunday) when we talked to Sherry - I asked her what she thinks as far as "trying" to get things going, or whether she thinks I need to relax, and let things come on their own. She said even though we are 37 +5, she would prefer us to take it easy, and let things come on their own. Who knows if a day or two matters, but it could... so back to no heavy lifting, (which includes Tyler), no unnecessary stairs, no walks, and just relax... She is fairly confident we will go on our own, but no need to rush it.

So since Nate works today, Joyce decided to stay to help me with Tyler (so I can avoid the stairs, and not lift him up and down all day).

Last night I had a few contractions that woke me up, and this morning I am back to having some back pain...

I will update tomorrow after our weekly appointment. I am interested to see what she has to say...

37 weeks + 5 days

I swear Tyler knows there is a baby inside of there!!

So yesterday was a pretty interesting/exciting day. My back had starting 'hurting' about 4 days ago - just feeling a little crampy and uncomfortable. Nothing different than what happened a week or so before we had Tyler. So yesterday, when Nate got home from the firehouse, we had planned for him to finish up his truck (changing the ball joints and tie rod ends) and I would have my typical day with Tyler :)

I ran a couple errands during his first nap, and had 5 contractions while I was gone (which was a bit over an hour). I thought I better take it easy when I got home, but once monkey wakes up, that's not always easy to do... My back 'cramps' really kicked in, and would NOT go away. I was in the middle of feeding Tyler his snack before his 2nd nap, and got to the point that I knew there was no way I could get him down for a nap by myself. So with the combination of how much pain I was in, with the thought of being in labor two weeks early, combined with the fact that Nate's truck was in pieces in the garage, combined with feeling of not being able to take care of Tyler on my own, mixed with so many other feelings and hormones, I went out in the garage to get help from Nate, in tears. After that, things got a little crazy for a moment.

Nate took over with Ty until my mom could get here. Bless her heart - she was on the way out the door to have an evening with the girls... I went upstairs to lay down and try to relax. At that point we started timing them, just to see where they were. They were consistently 10 - 12 min. apart. My sister and the boys stopped by to pick up something Mags had dropped off for her, and to help out in any way. She went to the store for us, thank goodness, which desperately needed to be done! And, Nate got back out in the garage to get his truck put back together. Nate's mom got on the road to come down, so if I went into hard labor later in the evening or overnight, she would already be here and settled. So at the end of the evening... everyone came together to help out! We are truly blessed to have such a supportive and caring family! Thank you all for being in our lives and being there for us!!

We ate dinner and my contractions stayed consistent. 10-12 min apart, but not real strong. Then around 9:30 or so, they started to putter out. Once Joyce got here, we all went to bed. I got a typical night's sleep (up 3 or 4 times), until about 4:45 and then had some pretty strong contractions for a couple hours, then back to normal...

I guess we will just see what today brings...

We Are Officially Full Term!

37 week update

Today we had our 37 week appointment. The baby's heart rate was in the 130's and sounded great. I told Sherry that I thought the baby had dropped. I have started getting that wonderful nerve pain shooting down the front/mid part of my thighs, that happened when I was pregnant with Tyler, after he dropped. Sherry said it looked like I had more 'room' up top, and sure enough, the baby's head is down, and has definitely dropped! She seems to think I'm going to go early, but then again, she thought that with Tyler, too (and we were 3 days late)! So I am not going to hold my breath... but it would be nice to go, maybe, 1 week early! ;) I couldn't remember when I dropped with Tyler, so I had to look it up... and it wasn't until 39 weeks - so maybe...!

Despite the new nerve pain, I am still feeling pretty good. My contractions seem to have changed the last couple of days. I have a lot more pressure down low, and I am starting to cramp in my lower back. So if that means I'm going to have back labor again, I'm NOT very excited!!!

I measured my self a couple of days ago, and I am 2" bigger around, than I was when I delivered Tyler! At this point, I have officially gained 2 more lbs than I did before - and I have 3 more weeks - so I don't think that is too bad!! Especially considering that with Tyler I craved steak and fruit, and with this baby I could eat cake and doughnuts for every meal... lol (If Nate would only let me ;)

We are finally getting some things done around the house. Nothing like waiting til the last minute!! The baby's room has been painted - but we are still doing the 'finishing touches'. The crib is almost put together, and the dresser was delivered today! We still need to go look at curtain rods and I have to start painting the circles on the walls. Hopefully I can get to that later this week!

We are having our maternity pictures taken tomorrow, and Nate brought up last night that we should probably get the bag for the hospital packed... hmmmm... yeah, he is probably right!!

34 Week Update

34 Week Baby Bump

There really isn't much new to report... The baby is measuring right on schedule, and the heart rate is still in the 140-150's. This week the baby's head was down... so the flashlight trick must have worked! :)

The baby is still moving around like crazy, and wakes me up at least 3 times a night. I have really hit the 'uncomfortable' stage, and have so much more ligament pain than I ever did with Tyler. Oh well... it will all be over before I know it!!!

We have been busy trying to things ready... the process has been slow. We are planning on starting to paint the nursery this weekend, and hopefully will be ordering the furniture within the next couple of days!

I start going in weekly to see Sherry now... I will update again soon!

32 Week Check Up

Today we went in for our routine 32 week appointment. The baby's heart rate was in the 140's again, and sounded great. The only thing that was a bit disappointing was that the baby was head up :( This is the first time (that we know of) that he has been this way. It still has plenty of time to flip back, but still makes me a little nervous. I'm going to have to start holding the flashlight up to my lower belly, and see if we can't get him flipped back, and stay that way :)

I also decided to measure myself "around", just to see where I am, compared to where I was with Tyler... and I am officially as big "around" as I was the day I delivered Tyler!!! With 8 weeks left to go... where in the world is this baby going to go??!!