Appointment Update 6/29 Edition

Sorry for not writing yesterday, there really isn't much else to say at the moment. Same complaints, same attempts to talk myself out of being anxious...

Last night's appointment went pretty well. My BP was high on the first reading (funny pattern I've noticed - my BP is out of whack when I go to my appointments by myself) but fine in the exam room. I have hit the +50 pounds mark. Ugh. I'm feeling more and more contractions; nothing too painful yet but there are definitely moments of discomfort. Hopefully I still have a little more time. I know there are things that Shaun needs to accomplish at work and we want to accomplish at home before she arrives.

Anyway, baby watch 2k9 is now officially in effect. I'll keep everyone updated as much as possible in the coming days!

38W 3D

11 days and counting.

Nursery Update in Pictures

The writing on the wall...

A couple of my maternity pictures in her room.

Updated belly shots are now also posted on the photobucket site!

Appointment Update 6/22 Edition

The nurse at May-Grant actually managed to catch my blood pressure at a reasonable level (115/74) with the machine the first time around this week! Yay! I'm up another 2 pounds, but everything is looking good. Kayla is still head down (under threat of being grounded for life if she flips and goes breech on me now) and the midwife felt as though she is sitting reasonably low even though it doesn't feel that way to me. Her HB is 144, so right in the same range as it's been.

I figured I'd doomed myself to going into labor this week since we have tickets to see Les Mis at the Fulton on Saturday; I know there's quite a bit of week left and still a chance, but I'm not counting on it. (But just in case, Dad and Sue - I hope you're on standby! I am going to call the box office and see if I can leave the tickets for someone else if need be...)

So I'm still just trudging along. Counting the days now... Cross your fingers for me.

37W 3D

18 days left.

In case I haven't already made it clear

This child is going to get an eviction notice. SOON. Since reaching that magical "full term" mark on Saturday, I feel it is now my duty to see that she makes her entrance into the world ASAP. Never mind the fact that she still hasn't really dropped or anything. I'm still not feeling a whole lot as far as contractions go either. Everything in it's own time indeed...

I wish I had anything else to report, but not much has been happening. I noticed I am starting to swell up a bit; nothing getting off my feet doesn't help though. I really don't think I can complain that it took till now for that to start. Perhaps after my appointment tonight... we'll see what they say this week!

37W 2D

Appointment Update 6/15 Edition

Not much to report again - BP was high again until they put me on my left side and had me rest for a few minutes. Very strange. Kayla's heart beat was strong in the 130's again, and for the first time ever between two apointments - I DIDN'T GAIN ANY WEIGHT!!! My Group B Strep tests came back negative, so no antibiotics for me when I go into labor. All is well, just waiting for the little bugger to drop and stop hurting me so much.

OH - and last night also brought another valuable lesson - don't overeat, especially too close to bedtime. The results will not be pleasant. No more food after 8 PM for me now.

Still counting down... 25 days...


36W 3D

Am I weird? or Ack! My first "am I a bad mom?" crisis.

So lately a topic of conversation I've noticed a lot between new moms/upcoming moms to be is the question of how soon is too soon to have baby out in a crowd, or at what point it's ok to allow "other people" to hold her. All of a sudden I feel as though I've done Kayla a disservice by not considering this question. I know that our first few days, maybe even a week or two will be spent largely at home sleeping, nursing, and just getting to know each other. That's totally understandable. But two weeks after my due date, we are slated to attend my cousin Catherine's wedding. It never occurred to me that maybe that was too soon to have her around such a large gathering of people.

Obviously if she would be born more than a few days beyond her due date, I may not be feeling up to attending the wedding after all... and I am not going to push things beyond what I feel like I am capable of doing. Obviously I will do my best to make the ceremony either way, but if the reception seems like too much, we may just go home. But that is me. What about her? Logically, I feel like she will most likely snooze through most of the occasion, if not the entire thing. Is it so crazy to think that it's not that big of a deal to take her?

In any case, we hit the 36 week mark on Saturday. Wow. I can't believe there's less than a month to go. My awesome mom came out to visit me Saturday afternoon and brought the baby monitor that she bought for us. So handy! Thanks to Shaun I know that the receiver unit works great, as does the paging feature. Thanks mom, we love it! We also got to meet my sister in law's new chocolate lab puppy on Saturday afternoon. She's just too adorable! My sister came out to visit after that - it was a busy Saturday for me. Poor Shaun spent a lot of it at work, and then napping since he was up at 4 am.

My next midwife appointment is tonight, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for some surprising news to come out of that. I'm not hopeful, being as Kayla is still riding high enough to stick her little toes in my ribs. I have been feeling some contractions though, a few more painful than others. At least that helps make it seem as though something is happening while I'm just sitting here going crazy.

I'll update again after tonight's appointment; cross your fingers for no blood pressure scares this time! I'm not too worried, since as Tiffany pointed out last week, I still have ankle bones, and my feet look normal, so I must be doing something right!

36W 2D

Appointment update 6/8 edition

Last night's midwife appointment was pretty much a non-event. We had a small BP scare (the machine in the nurse's pod measured it at 144/94. She retook it on the other arm and it was worse!) but when she took it manually, it was 100/74. Totally normal. I don't know what sent her machine into a spasm, but at least my urine was clear so we knew immediately there was little reason to panic.

I saw Tiffany again this week. She measured me (didn't give the measurement) and checked little girl's heart beat. I think my scare got to her because her pulse was back up around 145 for the first time in a while! After that she did the Group B Strep swabs and that was pretty much it. My weight seems to be OK (up another 2 pounds) and we're just trucking on towards delivery. Next week they should start checking for dialation/effacement. Here's hoping there's a little something happening, that would help explain the sudden bouts of nausea.

Still counting down, only 32 days left...

PS - our laptop is still at Matt's house, so I'm updating this from work... and I can't get to my photobucket album from here to post the pic of Kayla's wall. Hopefully by next update!

*giggles*

OK, I just looked up at my ticker and noticed that is says "I am getting fatter and fatter." I know they mean Kayla is getting fatter and fatter (putting on anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound each week) but it feels like they mean me. At this point, I'm not so bothered by it any more. It's sort of funny. In fact, if she wants to stop growing, that'd be cool. Ever since last week she has had one foot pressed pretty consistently against my ribs on my right side, and it hurts a little bit when she moves now. I'll take it though; as I've said all along, I would much prefer she be active so I know she's OK.

Saturday marked my 35/35. 35 weeks down and 35 days to go. Hard to believe, huh? I went to my lovely cousin Catherine's bridal shower on Saturday, and got to say hello to quite a few people I hadn't seen in some time. It was really really nice. I'm so looking forward to the wedding itself, I know Cath is going to be the most unbelievably gorgeous bride! Provided Kayla comes on time, that will also be her first big outing. I am nervous about going anywhere with a newborn, but I'm sure she will be fine.

Sunday we did our usual stuff around the house and then went to my sister in law's house for our oldest nephew's birthday. Watching Shaun play with the kids (ranging in age from 3 to 11) was a lot of fun - as it always has been - but more so now that we're looking forward to having one of our own.

I think the nursery is just about done and ready to go; I got Kayla's name put on the wall last week. It looks great except the K went a bit awry on me, so I'm going to have to look at that. I will post a picture when I update again. I want to get some pictures or something for the wall above the crib and to put on her shelf. I know for sure I'm going to order one of the shots from my maternity session for that purpose, but I'm still looking for other ideas since the prints I really liked at Ikea were $70 each and a bit steep for a baby's room. All of her sheets, blankets, clothes and whatnot are all washed and put away. I have all the little supplies we need to get us through the first few days; we still have to pack Shaun's diaper bag and get the hospital bag stuff together, but we are pretty much ready to go any time now. Here's hoping that the weeks continue to fly by...

35W 2D

So much accomplished...

Another busy yet productive weekend at our casa. First, let me brag about this:

That, my friends, is the top two shelves of my freezer, stocked with food we made on Saturday to get us through the first few weeks after Kayla's arrival. Not pictured are two trays of lasagna sitting on a lower shelf. How awesome is that? We finally cooked the turkey that we got free at Thanksgiving, and I made a few recipes from the "Once A Month Cooking" cookbook I bought. I also discovered a pork roast in the freezer that we're now thawing to make pulled pork either later this week or next weekend. That's exciting.

Also a brag on my part, Shaun put a lot of time and effort this weekend into hanging the new shelf we bought for Kayla's room so we could hang the diaper stacker above the changing table. Thanks honey! Now all we (I) have to do is hang the letters for her name on the blank wall, and her nursery is basically complete.

Following all that excitement, Sunday was my maternity photo shoot with Heather Johnson. She got a lot of really great shots, I can't wait to look over all of them again! She did some great traditional portrait-type stuff, and some really sexy shots as well. It's amazing how I can totally feel awful about myself some days, but then take a look at a picture and see the really beautiful side of pregnancy. I'm so appreciative of being able to have that captured for me to remember.

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot new to report. Crazy spaz child is moving almost constantly still, and I'm finding that I am able to breathe a little easier these days. It seems she is starting to drop and get into position for delivery. I'm hoping I can take that as a sign that things are moving along and we're progressing towards her arrival!

34W 2D

40 days to go!