37 Weeks... Full Term!

Wow, I'm 37 weeks. That is considered to be full term, even though there is still 3 weeks left until the actual due date. The baby is definitely dropping much more as the days go on. I think she might be anxious to come out or something. I am starting to get Braxton Hicks ('practice' contractions that prepare you and your body for the real deal) more and more often. I didn't mind them so much before, but as they are coming more often, they are getting much stronger. It doesn't hurt, but it definitely isn't comfortable.
Speaking of comfort... there's almost no such thing anymore. My favorite is sleeping. Laying on my side is getting old though too. I am so looking forward to the day I can lay on my stomach again lol. It's not always bad, but there are the days where I just want to be done with all of it.
So I went to the doctor again. I'm going in every week now. It's pretty crazy. Everything is going well still. He started checking the progress this time. It wasn't really a fun experience, but whatever. At least it didn't hurt for me. He said that the baby is really low, I'm 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced, and her head is a 0 station, and the cervix is very soft and ready for whenever she is. That's pretty good progress. So basically I could go into labor now and everything is ready. He seemed to think it would be this week almost. He was pretty excited. So he told me he'd see me again in a week unless I start having contractions 5 minutes apart (which is the sign that your about to have the baby and you need to go to the hospital). So I walked away thinking, "oh crap, she's coming within days!" And I was laughing in disbelief the whole way home. Seriously.
But after thinking about it now, I could stay like this for a week or more and have very little or no progress (or a whole lot). So I really still could have her on her due date. But then I think again and with all the Braxton Hicks contractions I've been getting, I still think that things are progressing and I won't be like that for very long. I think she'll come early. Too bad there really is no way to tell. I wish I knew the date she'll be coming for sure. It would make things so much easier haha.

35 Weeks and a lot's going on

Oh wow. It's been a while since I've written anything. 4 weeks left! So close and yet so far. Since my last post I've been to the doc's a few more times, nothing huge to report really. We've started a childbirth class, I'll get to that in a bit. We also have had a baby shower, set up the crib, and started cleaning out the baby room more and more. And we've had a prediction about when she'll be here.
So the last few doctor appointments have been uneventful. I mean that in a really good way. It's the same thing as ever... go in, get blood pressure checked, get weighed, get measured, listen to the heart, then Q&A if I have any. This last doctor apointment I was really curious about a few things. So I came with my list of questions. The one that I really wanted to know is how big he thinks she will be. He said he can usually guess withing 20% and that he thinks she will be around 6 1/2 - 7 pounds when she's born. That's if she stays on the growth curve she's on right now. He said she is on the smaller side of average, but is still in the healthy range. I'm thinking 6 1/2 pounds sounds good for me! I mean it's definitely no adorable chunky fat baby, but she'll fatten up. So my next appointment is next week, then it starts every week. So strange! That means it's getting really, really close. I also had a warning that they need to run the group B strep test. I won't even go into details for that one. It doesn't sound pleasant.
This childbirth class is really nice actually. I didn't know what to expect, but it's been informative. It was kind of a last minute thing for us because we knew we wanted to do a lamaze class, but that one was canceled because there weren't enough people signed up. So the next best thing was this one. It's not what I wanted, but it's something, and it helps. I feel a little more prepared for the birth, which I'm still completely freaked out about. We have been to two classes so far, and have two more. The last class it talked about newer symptoms and things that happen when the baby starts to drop. For one, you can breath easier. Oh that's so nice. We also watched a few births. We talked about epidurals/spinals. We practiced breathing techniques and talked about distractions. Distractions are going to be one of the most important things to get through the contractions. And yes... through all of these classes Daniel has been there :). What a good daddy he will be. Hopefully he will be a good labor coach first though.
So the other day after I got home form the class I sat on the floor next to my mom. As I sat down, she said "you look like you've dropped!" She meant the baby of course. I immediately thought and said, "no way, it's too soon, it's just the gravity. I can still feel her in my ribs when she moves." The next day, someone else said the exact same thing... she looks like she's dropped. This kind of scared me, if she already dropping she could come early, or I'll have pelvic pain and lower back pain for weeks! The lady then asked when she was due, I said August 8th-4 weeks. She then said "she's coming in two!" I was excited but scared at the same time. Then as I was changing for bed, I looked in the mirror and the belly really did look lower. It was a strange realization that she might already be descending and getting ready for birth. I'm prepared for four weeks, I think, but two weeks... that's so soon! I do want her to come early, I want her to be a July baby, even if it's the very last minute of the last day, I want her to be born in July. But that's only a week early, and very unlikely for first time moms... but we'll see.

Doctors and stories

So again... I went to the doctor. Like I said, it's every two weeks now. It seems like it goes by faster the more I see him. There really isn't much to report for these visits. I'm pretty certain that the last ones will be interesting though.
I have about 3 more visits of every two weeks then I'll be moving to every week. Wow, it seems so strange to have to go in that often. I'm not really looking forward to it either. But that will only be about 3 visits then she'll be here.
So far everything has been just fine. We only had that one little scare with her heart, but that turned out to be nothing to worry about. So everything is great. My test from the glucose screen/blood draw turned out just fine.
I've had people tell me I was made to be pregnant. I'm thinking that's a bit obvious... I'm a girl ;) haha. Just kidding, I know it's because I really have been very, very lucky. I didn't get too sick at the beginning, just exhausted. Oh, but I did need to eat a fiberous cereal every morning lol. The second tri flew by and I hardly even knew I was pregnant (everything seemed like my normal not pregnant self), not too many headaches, not very many of the common complaints at all really. So far into the third tri, I've been just fine. Besides the occasional-becoming-more-common back aches. Oh, and I'm starting with the heartburn a bit more too. But that really hasn't made me lose sleep or anything so I've really been just fine. Anything that I've had issues with is manageable, or barely there. It's crazy. I suppose I am pretty lucky.
So the latest and greatest is that she has found my bladder, a nice little nook right where my left leg starts, and is pushing everything upward. I get winded quicker, it's really kind of sad, and can't eat as much all at once, which is fine really and many other things. But this bladder thing... my goodness! She will sit there and push on it, then stop, then push again. I'll be sitting at work or anywhere really and suddenly I get this incredible urge that I have to go. It comes so instant and lasts a few seconds then suddenly the urge is gone. It goes on and off like that for at least a few minutes at a time. It's the best when I've just gone, and suddenly I feel like I have to go again. I'm like.. I JUST barely gave you more room there! You don't need to push on it! Then this little nook she found in my leg. Really it's like right where my leg bends, but she will just get as far down there as she possibly can and then push herself even farther. It gets so uncomfortable! She hits a nerve too and then my leg starts feeling funny. It almost goes numb. If it didn't feel so weird I wouldn't mind so much, it would be pretty funny really. But I can't walk normally when she sits there, and it's uncomfortable. The other day, she was pushing just under my ribs to push herself down in that little nook some more. It was so funny. She would sit there and push for a few seconds and my leg would almost go numb, then stop. Then push again and I'd feel it all in my leg again, the she would stop. It's funny to watch because she's so strong now and has such little room to work with that it will push my stomach out an inch or two, and everything else around it goes flat lol. It's pretty fun to watch.

31 weeks, 7 months!

Holy moley! I'm this far along????? When did that happen??!! Seriously. Time just seems like it is going so fast and I don't feel like I'm growing, but I really am... I mean she is. She's pretty much fully developed now and weighs just over 3 pounds and is 15 inches long. (According to baby sites) I have my moments where I'm so excited for her to just be here, then the exact opposite moments where I'm thinking... Oh shiz this is really happening! But hey, I'm sure that's pretty normal to be terrified and excited at the same time. It's so funny sometimes too because I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever... etc... been an emotional person, but I'll start thinking about her and about silly things like the things Daniel will be doing with her, and how much I'm going to love her, or even the things I'll take her to do and I'll just start to get all emotional and start to cry! It's so annoying to me because I don't do that stuff. It's funny though.
So I'm totally freaked out about the whole birth thing. My back has been hurting a lot more lately because of the weight of her making my back sway forward, and I'm thinking if I'm such a whimp about that... I'm never going to be able to make it through a freaking delivery! But somehow women do it all the time, which means I can too, dang it!
It's been pretty funny lately because more and more often people keep thinking it's important to tell me all about their pregnancies and kids. I'm not talking people I know... I don't mind that at all... I'm talking people I've never met, seen or will ever see again! I just think, why do you feel the need to waste my time when I'm obviously leaving and sit here telling me all about your experience and kids. I don't need to know about it. I don't have anything in common with you besides the fact that I'm having a baby. I don't care if you had a girl too. Your pregnancy is nothing like mine, I don't want to sit and compare them with someone I don't know. Especially if I'm already on my way out of somewhere. I may just be a bit irritated, because it is kind of funny. But seriously, it's kinda lame.
I suppose I should be happy about the fact that people don't just come up to me and rub my belly very often. I hear that one gets extremely old. Most people ask first, or just barely touch it for a second. It's not too bad. I'm dealing more with the stories than the touching. I don't know which would be more annoying to deal with.
So on a happier ending note... I'm down to about 9 weeks left (I really hope she comes a bit early)! We're getting her room more and more ready. That makes me feel so much less stressed because I feel like I'm getting more prepared. And we still have so much fun and love listening to her little heart beat. It's so cool.

To the doc again...

So this time it was just fine. Really nothing to report. Daniel made me ask him about going to the Backstreet Boys concert because he was a bit concerned haha. But the doctor said it would be just fine. He suggested maybe going to someone other than the BSB, but if the BSB is my pick then it would be fine.
Starting this appointment I'm going to be seen every two weeks. Oh that was really strange to realize I'm that close already! It seems like just a month ago I knew eventually I'll be starting every two weeks for visits, but it seemed like forever away. I don't know why or how this is going so fast for me, but it really is. Which I suppose is really nice. Hopefully it still goes fast for my last month... which is only in a month! Oh crazy.
So everything is going great. The baby's heart is getting louder and louder everytime we go in. Her movements are stronger and more often. It's fun... until she finds a spot that hits a nerve or something haha.
We bought a baby names book to help us decide on her name. We're having fun reading through it. We also started registering at Baby's R Us. We need to go somewhere else too to register.
It still really doesn't seem real. I don't know that reality has really hit me yet. I mean ya, I get that my stomach is growing, and there is some little person in there moving around like crazy, but it just seems like time is going by just like it always has... And then I get to the point of ...Oh, but I can't do this, and I can't do that right now. Then it seems real haha, but only for that moment.

Glucose screen test

So this appointment they told me ahead of time I will need to be there for at least an hour. So I planned for an hour off of work and went in. They had told me I'd be drinking a very sweet drink so that they could test my sugar levels and blood counts and such. It's a routine test once you reach about 28 weeks.
Well I go in, and they do the usual. Then they tell me to drink something. I take a big gulp and realize very quickly it's incredibly nasty! It tasted like over sugared, over syruped, under carbonated orange soda. I'm not a fan of soda or orange flavored things to begin with. So I decided to finish it quickly instead of slowly. So I take two more big gulps and I'm done. Then she tells me I can't eat or drink anything but a little bit of water for at least an hour. I can go do whatever as long as I'm back within an hour so that it has time to work through my system and they will be able to draw my blood.
I left, came home, then went back and they drew my blood. They told me that I would get all my results at my next appointment unless they found something wrong. It really wasn't all that bad, except that the nasty drink was nasty and made me want to throw up for the first time in months.
So I haven't heard anything from them yet. I'm guessing that's a good sign. I'll have to see what the doc says at my next appointment.

Welcome to the Third Tri!

So, here's 28 weeks, the beginning of the third tri! Crazy to think I'm that far along already. It seems like it has gone so fast, but at the same time it's taken forever. Oh my heck, she is going to be here in a little more than two months!! We still haven't officially decided on a name so we bought a baby name book to look through and see if there is one that really jumps out to us. It's a pretty fun book. It has the names' history, popularity, other spellings, etc. Plus we'll have it for future friends and family and ourselves when another baby is on the way.
So far the third tri has been not so kind as the second. Day one of officially being in the third tri, my back hurt like crazy, I had a bad headache, I was so tired... oh it was just not a fun day. And the week hasn't let up on me much. My back is starting to hurt more for (seemingly) no reason. But that is really the only bad thing. I keep telling myself... I will not complain, I will not complain. Hopefully I won't too much. I don't think it's good to start now, since I haven't yet, and I don't want to get into the habit of complaining about my little girl.
As of right now (writing this) she is about 15 inches long (head to toe) and weighs about 2 and a half pounds. Can you believe that fits in there!!! Sometimes I can't, and then I feel her move and I remember she really doesn't have that much room, even being all curled up in a ball.
There are times when she will just start moving like crazy and it just tickles. But it's so weird to watch my skin ripple almost all the way accross my belly. It's been fun to feel her more and more. It's also nice to know she's moving so much because that means she's doing well.
Anyway, that's all I can think of right now. If I think of more I'll put it in a different post. Thanks for reading!