36-week ultrasound

Had our very last ultrasound of the peanut today. He is growing wonderfully! His heart looks fine - as do all of his other organs. Pretty perfect, according to the ultrasound tech. Heartbeat was 143. He is estimated to be around 6 pounds now, which means if at full-term (40 weeks) he could run between 7 3/4 and 8 1/4 pounds.

It was impossible to get a good photo of the whole body and downright difficult to see the baby's face since his head is nestled down there near my pelvis. But that is a good sign - he's in the right position for birth, although no lightening or "dropping" yet. Lots of movement during the appointment - he was definitely pressing back against the ultrasound wand!

Baby bump - 35 weeks

Can barely keep my eyes open today. The last couple of nights I've been averaging about 5 hours of (unrestful) sleep a night and I'm just dragging at work. If this continues I'll take my doctor's advice about the Tylenol PM and pop one next week. I feel like a barely-functioning zombie.

Yesterday I felt a tiny bit of cramping on and off in my abdomen, which isn't anything to worry about according to my doc. Just the body getting ready to push the peanut out. Some twinges in my lower back too. My belly is also getting less squishy and harder to the touch. My balance is off too since my center of gravity is out of whack. It takes a huge effort to put on socks, pants or anything below the belt!

And the bigger the baby gets, the more he presses on my bladder so I am in the restroom CONSTANTLY. It seems like all I do is drink water and spend time in the bathroom. :-) He kicked me so hard in the ribs earlier this week that it took my breath away. Painful. Increasingly I can feel his limbs pressing up against my belly - little arms, legs, feet, etc. It's neat when D can feel them too.

Being a compulsive list-maker, I created a comprehensive one for items to bring in our hospital bag. I'm starting to get that together and can't wait to get the nursery finished! D's out of town job is winding down after next week or so he'll be home for a while. Perfect timing because Risha is moving into her new place next week.

Starting in about 10 days I'll see my doctor every week since we'll be in the home stretch. BabyCenter stats say the little guy is around the size of a honeydew melon and between 5.5 and 6 pounds, but we'll get a better idea of his stats during next Thursday's ultrasound.

Been trying to wrap things up at work and make sure my duties and projects/events will be covered to my boss' satisfaction. The process a little stressful since there are things that only I do and no one has been cross-trained.

34 week appointment

I'm 34 and 1/2 weeks today. Here are the stats from this morning's appointment:

 * blood pressure was 133/76 (a little higher than normal but I had climbed 3 flights of stairs so that may account for it)
 * baby's heartbeat was 150
 * belly measurement was 36
 * weight - gained less than a pound since last appointment!

One of my ANP's wants to see another ultrasound so we scheduled that for next Thursday, January 12. She would like one last look at the baby's heart. There were a couple small shadows on it at 20 weeks, which shrank down to just one spot at 28 weeks. While I'm excited to have one last look at the peanut, I hope this problem has totally resolved itself.

My belly is getting heavier and starting to protrude like an heirloom tomato. My internal temperature is running very warm so any sort of activity during the day has me working up a sweat and at night I am boiling. This hasn't been a huge issue since the weather has been very cold lately. This morning it was 8 below at our house!

Baby bump - 34 weeks

I hit 34 weeks this past Friday and had the day off from work so I scheduled a 50-minute prenatal massage at a local day spa, a gift courtesy of my sweet husband. It was fantastic! I just wish it could have been longer, but apparently a long massage can induce labor. Another friend had gifted me a massage at another day spa so I will try and schedule that in the next couple weeks. I'm so looking forward to that too - it is pure heaven to have the kinks and knots worked out of my sore back and hips.

Before Christmas I visited Target for a few essentials and ended up purchasing a maternity wool coat for my growing belly. It's a black pea coat and goes well with most of my clothes so I'm glad to finally have something that fits! I finished writing thank-you notes from my first baby shower and am looking forward to the next one on January 18, which will be hosted by some work friends.

Risha finally found a place to rent - a duplex less than a mile from our house, so she'll be moving out this week. Once she and her cats have settled in the new place, D and I will thoroughly clean her old room and start the transformation into our peanut's nursery. I'm so excited to set up the crib and finally make that space ready for baby!

Baby bump - 33 weeks

I remember looking at the women in my first prenatal yoga class that were in the 30-week range and thinking that was so far away. Now here I am past 33 weeks, getting so close! I find myself waddling a little sometimes because of the pressure on my back and hips. I try to correct that as soon as I notice it. My next prenatal appointment is on January 3rd, so I'm really trying to watch my weight before then. I didn't realize how hard it would be to go through a pregnancy during the holidays - too many rich, fatty foods to tempt me! I try to avoid the break room/kitchen at work to bypass the treats that seem to arrive every day.

I'm excited to have 2 four-day weekends in a row for Christmas and New Year's. D also has the same days off. Risha is off to San Diego with Gabe to spend the holidays with my mom and the Cali relatives. I wish we could be there too but traveling is a no-no for me right now.

Christmas was nice and low-key. D and I slept in, had a fire in the woodstove, opened a couple presents and took it easy. Every year I get a ham from work, so we cooked that up with green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy and garlic bread - yummy Christmas dinner!

32 week appointment

Had another prenatal appointment this afternoon. The stats: my blood pressure was 121/60, belly measurement came in at 33 cm and baby's heartbeat was 140. Weight is looking great too. Doc says it's all good and we scheduled the next meeting for January 3rd.

Each exam room has a dilation chart pinned up to the wall, and it freaks me out every single time I see it. 10 cm - that's huge!

I am getting more and more frustrated at night when I'm not able to sleep. Both Friday and Saturday nights found me awake at 3 or 4 in the morning, unable to get a deep breath. I end up sitting downstairs for a couple of hours reading or watching tv until I feel more comfortable or I'm so exhausted that I fall asleep! My doctor has recommended Tylenol PM but I'm fairly apprehensive about taking a sleeping aid - don't want to have to rely on it every night.

D and I are taking a half-day childbirth education class on January 7th - should be eye-opening!

The weekend

Talk about a busy weekend! It started off with me getting rear-ended at an intersection near our house. Thank goodness it was a low-impact crash - I was at a stop sign and the lady behind me slid into my bumper. No damage to her old sedan but my rubber bumper was dented in on the left side. We exchanged info and I took a photo of the damage. The peanut and I were fine so I drove the 1/4 mile home and had D look at the car. He ended up pounding out the dent in the bumper and it looks good as new! Just a couple minor scratches that I can live with.

On Saturday, D and I attended the Carpenter's Union Christmas party. The food was so good - prime rib, halibut, side dishes, dessert. No alcohol for me so D got all 4 of our drink tickets. :-) We ended up pretty lucky by the end of the night - he won a $50 card to Jens' Restaurant and about 40 minutes later they called my name for a $50 card to Romano's and a Carpenter's sweatshirt. Overall a great night!

Sunday was my baby shower - I had so much fun! The girls brought tons of yummy food and we were able to chat and visit for a while. We played a couple shower games: guess the baby food flavor (I got 6 out of 8, not bad); match the baby pictures (each attendee submitted a photo and we tried our best to match them up); and the baby pin game (can't say the word baby or else you lose your pin - I lost mine in the first 15 minutes!). I received the most thoughtful and lovely gifts from everyone. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends & family!

I also found out that one of my girlfriends is also pregnant - due May 24th! She and her husband are good friends with D and I, and were married just a few months after us.Can't wait to find out if they're having a boy or girl, and to see our kiddos grow up together.

Baby bump - 32 weeks

Here I am starting the 8th month of pregnancy. What a milestone! It's been a long journey so far but we're getting so close to delivery day. Approximately 8 weeks left - although he may be early or late, who knows. A friend of D's just welcomed a baby boy that was 3 weeks early.

Physically I'm doing about the same. I get overheated more quickly than usual, and my lower half gets sore in the evening after any activity. Last night I'm pretty sure the baby had hiccups! There was a rhythmic, light thumping on the right side of my belly for at least 5 minutes.

My baby shower is Sunday evening. We have already begun receiving lovely gifts in the mail from friends and family - everyone is so generous! Our little guy is already getting packages too!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Patrick! We'll save the gifts for Sunday's baby shower.

Wish my mom and D's mom could attend the shower too but it's bit of a plane ride for both. :-) They'll be there in spirit though!

Christmas tree

As promised - a photo of our little Christmas tree. Not quite a Charlie Brown tree, since it has too many boughs and greenery and ornaments! I love that it gives off a hint of the piney smell.

And a Drift photo taken this morning. He loves when I leave the house because it means he receives a treat! For Christmas, Santa brings him a new throwing dummy (like the green one below) and soft toy every year.

Tuesday update

Ever since my book club disbanded and morphed into a supper club, I miss not having new reading options every month. The longer the book or series, the more I love it! I finished the 3 books of the "Hunger Games" series in 4 days, and started the "Game of Thrones" set a couple weeks ago after hearing lots of good things about the cable show on Showtime or HBO. I just download the books to my Kindle and start reading!

My wish for more December snow came true and we saw 4-5 inches at our house Sunday night. I swept the front porch and stairs while Risha shoveled the driveway. We were both tired by the end because it was the wet, heavy stuff. It's a bummer for us when D is off working during the week of a big snow. :-) 

Christmas is fast approaching and I'm already exhausted! I have so many work events and projects that revolve around the holidays that it saps my energy for any celebrations at home. But I vowed to not be grinchy this year and have managed to decorate the house a bit. D even brought home a little 2-foot tree that he cut down on his way home from Cooper Landing a couple weeks ago. I loaded it down with ornaments - it looks great! Not sure if I will get around to sending out Christmas cards - maybe we'll just focus on baby announcements in February.

30/31 week appointment

Another quick prenatal appointment - I'm doing these every 2 weeks now. My blood pressure is good at 117/63, belly is measuring at 33 cm and baby's heartbeat was146. My weight is ok, according to my ANP - yay!

We talked a little about some of my concerns, which include the breathlessness and hip/back pain. Apparently it's all normal and I am supposed to take it easy since my level of activity can't possibly be up to where it was pre-pregnancy. It's just a frustrating to take the dog for a brisk walk and then have hip pain all night. Have had a little heartburn, which is gross! Having never experienced it before I was surprised to find out what it really was. Otherwise, things are progressing nicely.

My girlfriends are throwing me a baby shower next Sunday (December 18th) which is very sweet. Risha will be back in town and can help me transport the gifts back to our house. It's been a while since I've seen everyone so it will be great to hang out.

Baby bump - 31 weeks

I have another prenatal appointment this morning at 10 am. I'm at 31 weeks today but technically this is my 30 week visit. My hips and back are still achy but I'm trying to keep up with yoga and my elliptical workouts regardless.

 This past weekend we saw hurricane force winds blow through Southcentral Alaska (up to 118 mph on the Hillside!) Was probably 60-70 mph at our house? I'm not totally sure but as far as I know we didn't lose anything. Sure was scary though. AND the weather warmed up to close to 50 degrees - in December! Most of the snow melted off the streets, although it was very icy before that. So much for a winter wonderland. I hope it snows a lot before Christmas.

I'm working on a proposal to give to my boss and the CEO, detailing the work schedule options I'd like for them to consider after the baby is born:

• 4-day work week – off on Monday or Friday
• Reduce schedule – work part-time in morning or afternoon for certain number of hours
• Work from home 1-2 days per week 

The 4-day week is my first preference - I don't want a full-time schedule after the peanut arrives - but we'll see what they say. I would love to stay home everyday but that sort of makes me nervous. I've never not worked or had my own money, and having 2 incomes is very nice!

Baby bump - 30 weeks

30 weeks - and 75% done with this pregnancy! My arms have started to get a little tingly at night and I think the dreaded pregnancy numbness may be creeping up on me. Been trying to get on the elliptical a few times a week to keep my blood flowing and stave that off for a while. My body pillow is my best friend at night. Having my legs cushioned by something seems to help my back feel better and enable me to breathe a little easier. Still get up at least 3 times a night.

I attended a prenatal yoga class on Tuesday and am definitely less flexible than before! Since my belly is bigger and rounder, it is difficult to do some of the poses perfectly. I'm glad this session focused more on relaxation and stretching. Breathing is also very important in yoga and hoo boy, is harder to get a deep breath in class.  There was a woman there on Tuesday who was at 41 and a half weeks - very overdue! Her doctor was planning on inducing this weekend if she hadn't made any progress by then. We all felt really sorry for her - she looked SO ready to have the baby.

A coworker of mine has a daughter who is a couple weeks ahead of me, pregnancy-wise. She was saying her daughter has to have an ultrasound almost every week due to gestational diabetes, placenta previa, AND preeclampsia (high blood pressure). I heard that and thanked my lucky stars that my pregnancy complaints are fairly mild in relation to hers.

Met with a pediatric practice today to check out some docs for our little peanut. The office is here on my workplace campus and I absolutely love the place! The front office staff was very pleasant, the nurse practitioner I saw at the beginning of my appointment was great and then the two physicians were wonderful as well. Our big problem is which one to pick! I'll talk it over with D and see what he thinks. Both of the docs have many years of experience. One has a radio show on our local NPR station and is an expert in pediatric allergy and immunology issues, while the other has a special interest in hearing problems for kids.

Baby bump - 29 weeks

With the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving, I forgot to post my weekly bump update. I hit 29 weeks last Friday and can't believe it'll be 30 weeks THIS Friday! I meet with a prospective pediatrician office on Friday as well.

All of my winter jackets are too small for me wear now - they won't zip or button up in the front. My fault for having slim-fitting outerwear. I'm pretty much down to one piece and am thinking about investing in a nice maternity winter coat but most places don't sell them. Or else they're very ugly.

Thanksgiving was great this year - it was nice to have help cooking! We had a 12-pound turkey, garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, stuffing, butternut squash, cranberry sauce, candied yams and 2 kinds of pie (pumpkin and apple). Pretty much everything was homemade. Gabe flew up from California, and he and Risha were able to go snowboarding, x-c skiing and look for housing for when he moves up early next year.

I'm still averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night during the week - more on the weekends though. The doctor says my breathing will improve around month 9 when the baby drops and stops pushing up against my diaphragm. Can't wait! When D was home for Thanksgiving he was able to interact with the baby a bit. The peanut would kick or move, D would push back on my belly and the baby would respond. We also talked to him too since he can recognize our voices now. We're also looking through the baby book for possible names - no decisions yet.

One nice thing about pregnancy is how it affects my hair - wow, it's never been thicker or more full! And it barely falls out. But everyone tells me to enjoy this while I can because after the baby is born my hair will fall out at a faster rate.

28- week appointment

The 28-week/4 day appointment went well. I got to see our little guy on the screen again. Look at those chubby cheeks and full lips! His nose is HUGE but that is normal for babies in utero since they always have it pressed up against something. At my request the sonographer checked to make sure he was still a boy (yep, we saw the goods). His head is nestled down near my pelvis so that is a good sign too. Hopefully he doesn't do a full flip and end up breach.

Baby's heartbeat was 142 bpm, my blood pressure was 126/71 and my belly is measuring 30 cm - all good numbers. According to the ultrasound measurements, he weighs approximately 3 pounds at this point and apparently has a big head - in the 62nd percentile! The radiologist will read the ultrasound results tonight and report back to my physician but overall there are no causes for concern. The shadows we saw on the heart at 20-weeks have shrank down to one small area but there are no other accompanying signs to worry about so I don't have any additional ultrasounds scheduled. That means these are the last photos of the baby until we see him in February!

I didn't get yelled at about my weight this time, thank goodness. So far my gain has been 25 pounds so I do need to watch it from here on out. It helps that I barely gained any weight between this appointment and my last one 4 weeks ago. From now on the doctor requires I come in every 2 weeks until my 9th month (36 weeks) when I'll have weekly appointments.