40 Weeks

Normally I like to wait until I see the doctor and have more than just general feelings to update the blog with, but this week I'm making an exception.  

The short version is we're still waiting - patiently - but praying for labor to start before my appointment tomorrow.  

The longer version is: We understand that our kid will most likely come out when she's ready, and we're fine with that.  However, if labor doesn't start before my appointment tomorrow then my doctor will try to help it along with some membrane stripping.  We're not technically "overdue" until 42 weeks, so we're trying to relax and focus on everything else going on in our lives.  Lee still has a paper to write, and I have continuing education to work on - or any number of other projects to keep myself busy.

The fact that I generally feel pretty well, makes it easier to wait.  I have tired days here and there, and I don't always sleep well, but otherwise I really have very little to complain about.  Even the little bit of reflux I was having seems to have eased off significantly.  I did have a few little stretch marks finally appear this weekend, but can I really complain about some barely noticeable stretch marks appearing in week 40?  I'd say no.

Still Hanging In

We are at 39 weeks and 3 days!  This is the week where I’ve realized that it can actually be really fun to respond to pregnancy comments/questions.  I love watching peoples’ eyes go wide when they ask when I’m due and I smile and say, “Saturday.”  Some people appear to almost panic while looking me over for signs that I’m in labor.  It’s been an endless source of entertainment over the last few days.

At my OB appointment today I learned that my body made no additional progress this week and our girl still hasn't dropped.  That was mildly frustrating news, but the nurse did firmly tell her that she is being evicted this week :-)  My doctor is unconcerned for now, so I'm not worried either.  We're just taking it easy and waiting for the timing to be right.  My doctor did say she was impressed with how well I'm getting around for being 39 weeks though, and that makes me proud.  I am actually feeling quite well considering, which makes this whole waiting thing much easier.

Lee has been very busy at school with multiple papers in progress, and he says the timing will be right on Saturday (our due date) though he could work us in on Friday too.  Ha!  I just smile, bat my eyelashes, and say, “Sure thing, Honey.”  In truth, he’s as excited and impatient to meet our girl as I am, if not more.  However, we’ll both be ready and delighted whenever she makes her debut, especially since Nana arrived to help today :-)

Continuing Progress

Today I had my 38 week OB check up.  Our girl is continuing to do well with plenty of movement and a healthy heart rate.  The nurse and I get a laugh out of her always kicking the doppler while the nurse tries to check her heart rate.  I'm guessing she's either being sassy or curious :-)  I do wish she'd drop and give me a little more room to breathe and enjoy my meals, but she seems content to just hang out for now.

I'm also doing well.  My body is progressing in its preparations for labor.  As of today I am 2 centimeters dilated and about 50 percent effaced.  I've been woken up in the middle of the night a few times now with contractions, but nothing consistent.  Still it's nice to know those contractions are accomplishing something!  My doctor thinks it's possible that I'll go into labor before my appointment next week, but I'm hoping to hold out until my mom gets here the same day as next week's check-up.  The stats I've seen tell me I have a 25 percent chance of going into labor this week, and a 46 percent chance next week!  I feel a little like a ticking time bomb!

TERM!

We hit 37 weeks or term (technically early term) on Saturday!  That means our girl is basically ready to breathe outside the womb.  How crazy is that?!  I celebrated by jumping on a big trampoline. Totally not safe, but I was careful and everything was fine.  It actually felt amazing!

My doctor appointments are now weekly.  At my 36 week appointment my doctor told me that I was 1.5 cm dilated and that the baby was head down and starting to drop.  She doesn't think I'll deliver in week 37 or 38, but she also doesn't think I'll go past my due date.  However, at my 37 week appointment there was no real change, despite my trampoline time, so I guess we'll see.

I am definitely feeling like my body is too small for this big baby, so I hope my doctor is right and that I won't go past my due date.  I have some seriously tender ribs right now!  Lee and I have been working hard finishing up various tasks around house.  We're feeling ready and a little impatient.  We even have our hospital bags packed and ready to go.

We received our maternity photos from our wonderful photographer last week.  She'll be doing the newborn photos of our girl too!  Here's a few of our favorites:

Continuing the Trend

I should be cleaning up the breakfast dishes right now, but Lee is writing a paper, so I figured I'd procrastinate by writing a blog post.

I had a quick check-up with my OB on Tuesday this past week.  Everything still looks good and is progressing on schedule.  My next appointment, the 36 week check-up, is in a week and a half.  After that appointment I'll start going in weekly to check the cool stuff like effacement, dilation, and baby's position.  Until then I have a few more to-do items to check off my list like getting a Tdap shot and reading more books about how to (hopefully) get our kid to be a good sleeper.

No doubt about it: it's been a long week, and we have five more long weeks ahead.  Mainly I feel like our kid has grown too big for me to continue carrying her.  The books estimate she's 5.5 lbs and 19-22 inches long, so really she's still not that big, but it's how I feel.  Lee mentioned today that he's never seen me so whiny - I expect he'll post something entertaining about that in the next few days. He is right, but I've been more tired and uncomfortable the last couple of days than any time previously, except maybe when I had morning sickness several months ago.  However, when I start to complain, I have to consider my friend who just popped out a 10+ pounder this week.  Thinking of her reminds me that I really need to suck it up :-)

On the bright side, we did have a merciful, if brief, drop in the humidity this week that made my swelling go down quite bit.  It was a glorious couple of days that made me very much look forward to autumn weather!

Finally... An Update!

We got a little behind on the blogging.  Really we got so overwhelmed with moving and unpacking that it seemed irresponsible to sit down and write when we should have been cleaning or putting things away or shopping for various household items we still needed.  When we did sit down we were just too exhausted.  I've actually been sleeping really, really well since we arrived in Alabama - I think because I've been working so hard.  Finally, though, we're nearly settled.  We have pictures and curtains to hang, but we are pretty comfortable now.  We even managed to install the car seat and start setting up the nursery.  Here's a picture of the nursery so far:

We had a wonderful time visiting our families during our couple of vacation weeks.  All of our travel went smoothly.  We got to see many good friends and relatives we don't always get to see on trips home.  We also had a really lovely baby shower thrown by my mom and sister.  Then we flew to Alabama.

Alabama has been quite an adjustment for us.  It's hot and very humid, but those things don't bother me as much as all the bugs.  There are tons of giant cockroaches, mosquitos, and all kinds of other bugs I don't have names for because I've never seen them before now.  I guess you could say this place is very full of life in that respect.  Oh and then there's this from my walk with the dog a few mornings ago:

We've also noticed a difference in culture, of course.  The biggest cultural difference I've noticed since we arrived, is how often people (mostly women, but some men too) comment on my pregnancy. I had only received one comment from a stranger prior to arriving here.  Now I get comments and questions everywhere I go.  Mostly I don't mind, but when someone says, "Wow!  You're going to have a good-size baby!" in response to hearing my due date, I'm a little offended.  It seems any people I've encountered have at least learned to ask before touching a pregnant woman's belly - I sincerely appreciate that.  But it also appears, that there are a few slow learners out there, who have yet to understand how rude it is to comment on a pregnant woman's size.  On the other hand, one very kind woman who passed by me at Ikea said simply: "You look so beautiful."  That was so sweet I nearly cried.

I've been to my new OB/GYN twice.  Interestingly, my high blood pressure has ceased to be an issue because all my blood pressure measurements have been normal here.  I suspect it has something to do with the pleasant office environment and the very kind staff.  Also, at my last appointment I had an ultrasound to check up on my placenta.  It had been low-lying (too close to my cervix) at my 20 week ultrasound, but now it's moved up out of baby's way.  The ultrasound technician also took various measurements of baby girl's anatomy, and she is head down and right on schedule for her age.  It's so nice to have the reassurance that everything is going well as we enter the last two months.  Here is a cute profile picture the technician printed for me:

I have my next appointment, the 34 week check-up, this week.

Lee and I have attended childbirth class, breastfeeding class, and infant CPR and safety class.  We've toured the hospital where I'll be giving birth.  We have one more class on caring for a newborn, but otherwise we're nearly "ready".  Ready in the technical sense that we've done what we can to get ready, not necessarily actually ready.  We are kind of actually ready.  Ready to meet our girl and find out what she's like - though we are still working on names - and taking suggestions!  Any suggestions?  On the other hand, we have no idea how we're going to handle labor and delivery, or for that matter, caring for our infant after delivery.  It seems like there is so much we just have to figure out as we go.

Otherwise, I'm tired.  I guess growing a kid wears you out.  I'm also a little swollen with all the heat and humidity here.  But, I am sleeping well thanks to A/C and my special Snoogle pillow, and that keeps me feeling pretty good overall :-)  Six weeks to go!  

For those who noticed it's been over a month since we posted to the blog,  I expect we'll be back to posting updates more regularly now that things have settled down.

Heat Wave!

The last week brought record breaking temperatures to Germany and other parts of Europe.  Germany, for generally good reasons, has very little AC.  Unfortunately, we've all been suffering for that choice over the last week - especially all the pregnant ladies - and to be dealing with this in the middle of finishing up our move... it's been awful.  Fortunately a couple of weeks ago Lee and I caved to our desire to do one more thing before leaving Europe and booked a trip to Amsterdam.  We've both been there before, but we'd missed a couple of things we wanted to see and do including the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum.  The trip proved worth every penny, and reminded us why we like cities so much - Diversity!  It was still hot in Amsterdam, but it was about 10F degrees cooler than in Germany on the hottest day, and 20-30 degrees cooler on the other days.  And, most importantly, our hotel room had AC and an incredibly comfortable king size bed!  It was glorious!  We didn't want to leave - ever.

We did leave though.  We had to pick up the dog, take care of our last bit of packing, mailing, and paperwork, and catch our flight.

I had my last Germany OB appointment this morning.  My blood pressure was too high again, but this time they sent me right up to Labor and Delivery for testing and monitoring.  They took my blood pressure in the OB clinic 3 times and it was too high every time.  In Labor and Delivery, they took it 7 times and every time was perfectly normal and healthy.  They also monitored the baby's heart rate during all that which was pretty cool.  I was finally released after an extra 3 hours at the hospital with the conclusion that baby girl and I are totally fine.  Ultimately I really appreciate the care they took, but honestly... I'm trying to finish packing and taking care of all the necessary last minute details today before flying out tomorrow - might that be the reason my blood pressure was a little high?  Still, I can't complain too much about 3 hours relaxing with my book on a hospital bed in an air conditioned room on a super hot day like today.

Big picture: we managed to get everything done and we're all healthy and ready for our trip tomorrow!