38 Weeks

Pregnancy Update November 12, 2012

Thank you to my sister, Melissa, for the cute shoes, tank, sweater, & scarf! Supposed to be a post-baby bday outfit, but I stretched the tank on! lol Too fun not to wear new clothes!

 

How far along: 38 weeks! 14 days left, but fewer, according to the doctor... and an induction date!

Size of baby: 19.75 inches, 6.8 lbs. - A "Leek"

 

What developed this past week: Baby is full term and has fully functioning organs, though his brain and nervous system will continue to develop for years.

Weight Gain: 34.6 lbs.

Maternity clothes: All maternity.

Gender: HE'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"
(Bryson means "smart", Nicholas means "winner" or "victory of the people")

Movement: Haven't noticed a decrease in movement due to limited space... have noticed that I'm being punched in my bladder more... must be a sign he's dropping :)

Sleep: This past week I started getting up almost every night to use the bathroom - another reason I think Bryson is dropping... Otherwise I sleep well. Usually I can go a good 5-6 hours before waking up to turn over and use the bathroom. It's the "end" of the night of sleep where I am more restless - turning over more often. But I still manage to keep sleeping - just moving a lot too. I'll take that and be glad!

What I miss: Nothing this week. Makes me sad to think about not being pregnant anymore, so I can't even bring myself to complain about missing something.

Cravings: Nothing.

Best moment this week: My 37 week appt was actually at about 37.5 weeks, on 11/8. She said heartbeat and position look good. AND I was 1cm dilated and 70% effaced! Dr. V also said Bryson's head is very low and she couldn't imagine him waiting more than 10 days or so to come!! Since, I'm writing this a day late, I'll also update on my 38 week appt - since I may not be writing a 39 week post... On 11/13, at 38w2d, I was 2cm dilated and still 70% effaced, but my cervix was definitely softer and thinner (as deduced by TMI to share here :)). Dr. V seemed very surprised at how low Bryson's head was and she said she thinks he'll come before next Monday. BUT if he doesn't, we have a scheduled induction on 11/19! That way he'll be here and we'll be out of the hospital by Thanksgiving, when my doctors are not on call and the hospital is short staffed for the holiday. I can't BELIEVE he's ready to come any. day. now.

On Sunday especially, I had tons of braxton hicks contractions. Usually my BHs are brought on by exerting physical effort, but this weekend, there were plenty of times where I was sitting still and my uterus decided to practice contracting! Over and over again. Apparently they are working, because within 5 days, I dilated another cm between appts.

I'm still praying that Bryson comes before Monday, so B can decide when he is ready and when my body is ready. But if not, I'm ok with inducing so that we have our favorite doctor and are home for the holiday. Dr. V thinks there is no reason why we should wait - Bryson is ready.

 

Tuesday, my mom came over and we got the spare room reorganized and cleaned! She also cleaned my bathtub! What a woman :) Forever grateful!

Wednesday, I cashed in my birthday pedicure from my friend, Nicole! I now have beautiful feet to focus on during labor. lol

Sunday, 11/11, was a BEAUTIFUL 70 degree day, so we capitalized and cleaned out our cars and put the carseat bases in them!! A HUGE thank you to my brother in law, Eric, who surprised me and vacuumed my car while I was out taking a walk with his wife and kids that afternoon. AWESOME surprise! It was bad... so far past needing vacuumed. :)

Caleb's truck

My car

Also, it seems as though there is always more to clean, and Bryson isn't even here yet to make messes and use things! More laundry and more dishes keep coming :) I think we now have all the bottles and pacifiers clean!

 

Random info:
- No swelling at all lately - no matter the kind of socks I wear. I have stopped wearing my wedding ring, just in case - I would NOT want to have to get it cut off of me if I swell unexectedly!
- My last day of work was 11/12 - the rest of the week, Tues-Fri, I took vacation days so I can finish preparing everything for Bryson's arrival. My favorite part of taking the time off is NOT SITTING AT MY DESK! It makes me want to crawl out of my skin just to think about sitting there again - my ribs/abs ache and burn so much from sitting all day that I can hardly stand myself! I'm so happy I don't have to endure that for the last few days before B comes! Of course, the other great part is that I get to finish everything that's been on my to-do list AND relax and rest a little before I only get sleep in 2-3 hours increments. I'm living it up now!
-Unfortunately, in the past week or so a bunch of people in our family have caught a bad cold. We are praying that everyone gets better and is healthy to meet Bryson! Even Caleb had to take a half day from work on 11/13 because he was so miserable. Even his body was aching, along with the scratchy throat and runny nose. I am fighting it too - so far have been able to keep it down to a scratchy throat. I'm trying to keep something in my mouth (candy/gum) so that my throat doesn't get too dry. And I swear by taking vitamins - so far so good!

What I am looking forward to:  BRYSON COMING!!! Sometime within the next week, we will finally get to meet our son! Caleb and I could not be more excited to see his sweet face!

37 Weeks

Pregnancy Update November 5, 2012

How far along: 37 weeks! FULL TERM, BABY! 21 days left, hopefully less... 

Size of baby: 19.25 inches, 6.3 lbs. - A "Stalk of Swiss Chard"

What developed this past week: Since baby is now considered full term, it means all of his organs should be developed and ready for the outside world! Now is just more time for his hair to grow and his cheeks to get chubbier!

Weight Gain: 34 lbs. I actually lost a TINY bit this week - I lost the food obsession as quickly as I found it, AND I started getting on the treadmill during my lunch hour for 20 minutes or so! Only got 2 days in this week, but will be doing it every week day now that I am full term!  Gotta work Mr. Bryson down and out! :) 

Maternity clothes: All maternity.

Gender: HE'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"
(Bryson means "smart", Nicholas means "winner" or "victory of the people")

Movement: Moving all the time - mostly on my right side still. Only 4 or so days of the last couple months have I felt him kicking out on my left side. Maybe this explains why my right ribs ALWAYS hurt and my right leg is the one that goes to sleep or gets nerves pinched when I walk a lot!

Sleep: Still sleeping OK. Sometimes I wake up with pain in my upper back or my abs. I usually can adjust and go back to sleep. If I seem to be laying awake for more than a couple minutes, I'll usually get up and go to the bathroom. The changing of positions and standing usually helps relieve whatever pains I have, so when I lay back down I can fall asleep fairly easily.

I'm having more crazy dreams recently... Not sure where they even come from sometimes! Apparently, my mind is a lot more creative than I think it is! lol

What I miss: As much as I won't miss the burning in my abs/ribs, I'm trying my hardest to focus more on fully enjoying the last few days/weeks I have with Bryson kicking and punching me (from the inside... won't be so cute on the outside! lol)!

I definitely missed my niece, Joscelin's, 1st birthday party! I heard it was wonderful! I was so sad to not get to be there, but being in a car for 16 hours, and being 8 hours from home while full term wasn't advisable :( Though it did cross my mind to "risk" it... there are hospitals along the way, right?? If only I could make it through the car ride without wanting to cut out my half of my rib cage...

Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary. Still like all the usual things - cereal, sparkling cider, coke & dr. pepper... Still wouldn't consider any of them cravings, but I can always go for a bowl or glass if I'm hungry or thirsty!

Best moment this week: This week, Caleb and I got to spend a couple evenings together, both shopping/getting stuff done and relaxing. As much as we love the alone time, we keep telling Bryson we're ready for him to join us! Caleb is especially ready, since I've been able to "hold" B every second of the day for the past 9 months and he hasn't! I'm a baby hog... what can I say? :)

Another thing Caleb and I did together this week was take a CPR class. We are now fully trained and certified in adult, child & infant CPR! Caleb said he already knew what to do before taking the class, so I doubt he'd admit to feeling more prepared to care for Bryson, but I certainly feel more comfortable with my skill level now!

Thursday evening, my SIL, Laurie, and niece, Emilie, came over one more time to help get the last things put away and organized in the nursery! I know I've said this a hundred times, but since certain finishing touches keep getting pushed off, we are still SO close to having the nursery done! It WILL be done this week, if it's the last thing I (and Caleb) do! :) Thank you girls, again, for your help! I was certainly at a point of not caring/not knowing what to do and just wanted it done for me! You saved me from just throwing everything in a drawer or the closet! :)

One more time before Bryson's arrival, I did another session of Freezer Cooking! I made 5 recipes that I found on Joyful Mommas Kitchen and I am very excited to eat them! Three of them are topped with shredded cheese and baked... can't go wrong with all that cheesiness! :) The potato soup seemed interesting... I wasn't too sure about it... but since making it, I randomly found the same recipe posted on another blog I read where she claimed it is delicious! :) All 5 recipes I made alone and they only took about 2.5 hours! I was very impressed! I guess it helped that not much needed chopped - only one onion. Everything else was a cook or mix kind of thing. I now have at least 15 meals in my freezer just waiting for the day I don't feel like cooking! :) Unfortunately, I'm forcing myself to wait until after Bryson is here... because most days I don't feel like cooking even now! lol

Random info:
-I have had some swelling in my ankles/calves a few times. It is seriously quite the site to see your calves mushroom over the top of your tight socks... I have switched to wearing Caleb's looser/lower cut athletic socks and haven't had any problems since I made the change!

What I am looking forward to:  - Going to my doctor appointment on Thursday and hopefully finding out if I'm dilating/progressing at all! So strange to actually want to be dilating! For the longest time, childbirth seemed far too terrifying to ever want to get to. Now I think we're about ready to meet this little miracle.
- One of my friends went above and beyond for my birthday this year and got me a 1 hour pedicure at Bella's! I had literally just told my sister that I was going to schedule a pedicure somewhere so my toes look nice when I have to stare at them during labor! lol What a wonderful gift! Thank you, Nicole!!!
- My mom coming over a couple nights this week to get my spare room and office organized. We pretty much just dumped a bunch of stuff in those rooms when we cleaned out the nursery, and effectively moved the mess from one place to another. Mom is going to help me get it put away, once and for all :). She also is going to prove her unconditional mother's love by scrubbing my bathtub! I feel bad asking anyone to do this nasty chore, but she is always willing to do anything for me. Bending over to scrub and using harsh chemicals does not sound like a good idea for me to do, but I want the tub clean so I can soak in it during labor if I feel like it. Thanks, Momma!!
Unfortunately, our contractor guy wasn't able to come this past weekend to finish our bathroom and the other small projects. We're hoping he can come next weekend now... not sure if that will work out. Depends on the timing of the baby's arrival! Still very much looking forward to him completing so many projects in our house!