Still waiting

My doctor’s appointment yesterday went pretty well. I didn't gain any weight from the week before, which I felt was a great accomplishment, lol. But more importantly, my blood pressure is still good and the baby's heart beat is still good.

I had an internal exam and this time, it was NOT fun! The doctor had trouble finding my cervix and it seemed like the whole process took much longer than the first internal exam I had. But, the good news is that I am almost 2 centimeters dilated and I'm slightly thinned out. Even though it isn't much, it is still something. Any progress is good progress in my book.

My doctor also stripped my membranes. She did not tell me she was going to do this ahead of time and she certainly did not ask me if I wanted it done. Just as she was starting to do it, she told me that she was doing it. It was a bit painful, but in the long run I guess I'm glad she did it.

I'm sure most of you are wondering what in the world is stripping membranes. I have a good idea of what it is, but here is an official definition for those that are clueless: Stripping membranes is essentially just an aggressive pelvic exam in which the doctor will feel around just inside your cervix where the membranes ("bag of water") are attached to its rim. By running an examining finger around the inside of your cervix, the doctor can separate the amniotic sac from where it's stuck there. Theoretically, this will allow the bridging molecules that stick the membranes to the inside rim of the cervix to break--all at a molecular level, mind you--and so be released and then converted into prostaglandins, which are powerful stimulants of labor.

Although stripping the membranes can sometimes help labor along, it doesn't always do that. So, it might not actually affect when Christina gets here. I'm fine waiting another couple of weeks, but the downside to going over my due date is that my doctor says she will induce me at one week overdue. That means that she will give me drugs to make me go into labor. Inducing labor always brings on stronger and more painful contractions, so I want to avoid that at all costs. I am crossing my fingers that my little girl comes on her own, before my doctor gets her hands on me.

On another note, since I got home last night, all hell has broken loose in my house. I was bleeding from the exam (my doctor warned me this might happen) and I had cramps almost all night which kept me from sleeping. Besides from that, Nik mysteriously got extremely sick. From about 8pm on, he just kept feeling worse and worse. Then, by the time morning came, I was feeling sick too! Luckily, now I'm feeling better and I have realized that I was only feeling sick from being up all night and feeling crampy. But, Nik was in such bad shape this morning that I had to take him to the doctors.

We got back a little while ago. He basically has the flu, and he also has strep throat. That really sucks because he is suffering, and I'm not exactly in the best position to take care of him. Plus, I really really don't want to get sick and he is contagious. Oh yeah, and if I do happen to go into labor, we are in big trouble because he would not be allowed to be around the baby. That means he wouldn't be able to be there for me during delivery, and he wouldn't get to hold his daughter when she is born.

Thank goodness I am pretty confident that he will be better in plenty of time for my labor to start, but still, it is on my mind. The doctor gave him antibiotics and I just hope that they work fast. Dealing with a sick husband when you aren't feeling your best is not easy.

Christina's Room

I was playing with our new video camera earlier and recorded the baby's room. It is much easier to get a better idea of how it looks in a video, rather than pictures. The room is pretty much finished now, so take a look and tell me what you think.

Single Digits!

Only 9 days until my due date. Crazy huh? I only have two more days left of work and from that point on, one way or another, life as I know it will be very different. I am so excited. I can't wait to meet our little girl, to see what she looks like, to hold and snuggle her for the first time, and to take the first picture of her.

I have another doctors appointment today and I will find out what my progress is like. My mom is coming with me because Nik can't come. I know she is just as excited as I am to find out how things are coming along. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, because I know there is a huge chance that I'll still be one centimeter dialated, but how cool would it be if I was like 2 or 3?

I haven't felt any contractions so far. Usually by even 31 weeks pregnant, women start to feel braxton hicks contractions. They are like practice contractions to get your body ready. And at this point, I could even be having the real thing without going into labor, but I haven't noticed them either.

It is possible that I have had contractions and just don't know it. That would be wonderful! How great would it be if I was contracting and dialating and my body was getting ready for this baby, without even causing me any pain? It would be great, but not likely. I don't even know what contractions feel like, so it will be interesting when I finally do realize I'm having them. It won't be long now.

Nothing to report

I had another doctors appointment tonight and she didn't do an internal. This is the second week in a row. I was pretty surprised, but she did say I will definitely get one next week. So, I really don't have anything new to report.

I don't know if I've progressed any further than 1 cm, but I do know that I'm still measuring on schedule and the baby's heartbeat is still good.

Oh yeah, and I only gained half a pound from last week. That's pretty exciting because for awhile there I was gaining a FEW pounds every week!

Cabin Fever

Next week is my last week of work before maternity leave. I can't believe it. It's really weird to think I won't be coming into the office for two months. Over the weekend I actually started to get really panicky about being home with "nothing to do".

I am the type of person that can not just sit around and do nothing. Since I can't really go anywhere (it hurts my back to drive too far away), I'm just getting really antsy. I have little projects at home that I've been doing. But, whenever I am feeling lazy or whenever I don't have a project to do, I go stir crazy.

When Nik is home with me, it is better, but I'm worried about the week or weeks I'll be home from work before the baby is born and Nik is working everyday. It's so hot out in the afternoons that going out just to get out of the house, really isn't even much of an option. Shopping usually helps, but once I stop working, I won't have any money. (As if I have any now, LOL).

Anyway, I'm sure I'll deal with it somehow. Hopefully Christina comes fairly close to her due date though, so I'm not sitting home just waiting. I almost want to work up until her comes, but then again, I really don't want to go into labor while I'm physically at work.

Picture Post

Here I am at 33 weeks. This dress makes me look really big!




Here I am, also at 33 weeks, but at my baby shower. (Thanks to Danielle for this picture)




Below are a bunch of pictures that my friend Linzy took the day of my baby shower. I am still waiting for the CD of all of the pictures, but for now, here are the one's I got from her website. I love them and can't wait to get them all! :-)

My to do list

As time is winding down (can you believe I'm full term already?), I realize that I still have quite a few things left to do. I feel pretty good about having the room practically ready for Christina, but there are still a couple of things that I want to do. I'm being held up because I never got the registry completion discounts from Target or Babies-r-us. Even though several people I know got them 2 weeks before the date on the registry listed as the "due date", and I had my date in as 8/1, I still have not gotten them. I'm waiting for those so that I can finish up my shopping, although if they don't come soon, I'm just going to have to shop without them. I could really use the coupons though, so I'm trying to hold out.

The things I have left to do in the room don't really need to be done before the baby gets here, but I would feel more comfortable if they were done anyway.

Two of the other huge things I need to do were being held up by those discounts also. I need to have my hospital bag packed and I need to have the car seats installed. For the hospital bag, I need a nursing bra and nursing tank, along with some other things from my registry for labor (massager, birthing ball, soothing sounds cd, etc). Before I can install the car seats, I need the car seat protectors and I registered for those as well.

Since I can technically go into labor at anytime, Nik and I decided that we could not wait on packing the hospital bag or installing the car seats any longer. So, I bought everything I need for the hospital bag, and I ordered the car seat protectors. Unfortunately, the car seat protectors were not sold in stores, so I ordered them online and I'm still waiting for them to arrive.

Now I have my hospital bag mostly packed, but I still have to add a few things. I would like to install the car seats asap, but of course I can't control when the protectors will arrive. So, I'll do that as soon as I can. In the worst case scenario, if I'm not done with the hospital bag and if the car seat protectors haven't arrived when I go into labor, I'll have to do without the rest of the items for the bag and the protectors. It won't be the end of the world, but it does make me a little nervous.

I'm also getting nervous about the fact that I haven't finished reading "What to expect when you're expecting", and I wasn't able to take my breastfeeding class. All of these things on my to do list have kept me up at night after my 4am bathroom break. Today, in fact, I just couldn't stop thinking about the other items I need to add to my hospital bag.

So much to do and so little time! Who knew that 9 months would fly by just like that!

Breastfeeding Class

My breastfeeding class was on Monday. I was really looking forward to taking it because I am nervous about being successful with breastfeeding. I was making Nik go with me because I felt having his support and understanding was important.

Of course from the moment I woke up on Monday, I was feeling HORRIBLE! I just felt really under the weather and very tired. It never really passed and even when it came time to leave for the class that evening, I was still feeling really crappy.

From the time I reminded Nik that we had to leave soon, to the time we left the hospital, Nik was complaining that he did not want to go. He didn't see any reason for it. Maybe I was wrong in thinking that he should go, but when I originally thought it was silly for him to go and I posted about it on the nest, I got a ton of responses back from girls that said "of course he should go!". They proceeded to explain how important it was, and I was sold. Unfortunately, that wasn't convincing Nik.

It also didn't help that the damn lady at the hospital reception desk (who really should have minded her own business), said to me "I don't think he is allowed to go" and pointed at Nik. My first thought was - seriously??, your job is to tell people where to go in the hospital, do you really know anything about husbands attending the breastfeeding class with their wife!

Obviously, her comment really got me steamed up! Especially since the hospitals description of the class, gave a price "per couple". Now why would they even say that if the husband's were not allowed?

Anyway, I was annoyed and of course it just fueled the fire more and Nik felt like he was right. On our way walking to the auditorium (where that damn lady told us the class was being held), I told Nik that if there weren't any other guys in the class, that it was ok for him to leave and pick me up afterwards. So, he verbally made it very clear that he hoped there were no other guys in the class. That of course annoyed me more, because I really wanted him to be there.

So lets sum this up so far: I had been feeling sick all day long, was extremely tired, obviously irritable, the lady at reception got me angry, and Nik continued to get me annoyed. I was already feeling vulnerable about breastfeeding in general, and all of the events leading up to the class just made me feel worse.

It would have been nice if everything worked out ok and I had a nice, informative class, but no, that was not in the cards.

As Nik and I got closer to the auditorium, we saw a pregnant woman walk by us (going in the opposite direction). We got to the auditorium and no one was there. I was pretty surprised.

We sat down and got comfortable and at just about the time that the class was suppose to start, that pregnant woman came back into the room to let us know the class was actually in the 1 South Conference room, and not the auditorium.

We thanked her and started gathering our stuff to move. By the time we got into the hallway though, the woman was nowhere to be found. Since we had never been to the 1 South Conference room, we had no idea where it was. So, we just started wandering around, looking for it. We even asked a couple of hospital employees to point us in the right direction, but no one knew where this mysterious conference room could be found.

We found Conf. Room A, B, C, D, but not 1 South, not even 2 South or 1 North - something at least close. Finally, we realized we had no choice but to walk all the way back to reception to ask where we could find the room. It was not a short walk and on the way I couldn't help but get even angrier at the lady who not only made the stupid comment, but also sent us to the wrong room. The whole situation was just so overwhelming, and I just started crying.

Realizing that by the time we got to the right room, we would have been almost 30 minutes late and we still had to sign in, pay for the class, make the decision as to whether Nik was staying, etc. all while interrupting all of the other pregnant women that did not follow the directions of the lady at reception and arrived on time, I decided to skip the class.

So, with tears in my eyes, I told Nik to forget the whole damn thing, and we went home.

It was not a good night.

Update

At my doctors appointment last Wednesday I had my first internal. It was not as bad as people make it out to be, not at all actually. It was very quick and easy. And, it turns out that I'm 1 cm dialated. That is pretty cool since I was definitely not expecting to be dialated at all. I am still measuring right on track, although I'm surprised at how much weight I've gained. I guess since it seems to be all in the belly though, it is ok. The baby's heartbeat was great and so was my blood pressure.

I had another doctor's appointment last night (they are now once a week), and the doctor did not do another internal. So, I don't know if I have dilated further or not, but I'm assuming not. I still have three more weeks to go and the baby has not dropped yet, so I'm not in a huge rush. Again my blood pressure was good and so was Christina's heartbeat rate. As of yesterday, I have gained a total of 35 pounds!! I'm shocked. I asked my doctor if she thinks I am gaining too much just in case, but she said that I am not. Since I am measuring on track, everything seems good.

In other news, Nik and I found a daycare that won't break the bank! We really like it and are so relieved that we will be able to afford it. Of course it will still take some major financial planning, but it doesn't scare us like the cost of the last one did.

Exactly One Month

Today is August 5th and if you remember correctly, my due date is September 5th. Can you believe it, I'm exactly one month away from my due date?!! It's crazy to think that 35 weeks of pregnancy have gone by. I know I've said it before, but it really seemed to fly by for me.

My little girl is already head down and apparently ready to go. Of course, who knows if she'll wiggle her way head up again. But, for now I'm happy to know that things are moving in the right direction.

Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment. Actually, from now on, I have a doctor’s appointment every Wednesday. At tomorrow's appointment I will have my first internal exam. That means that the doctor will check for the position of the baby and my progress (dilation and effacement). Of course I'm expecting her to say that I have had no progress, but either way I know that it doesn't really mean anything. Some people show no progress two days before the baby comes and others are dilated for weeks before the baby comes.

At my appointment tomorrow I think I'm going to have to talk to my doctor about my labor and delivery preferences. I've sort of been putting it off. I'm not 100% sure what I want, but I know that I need to have a discussion with her so that we are both on the same page. I'm hoping that she will give me advice and ultimately let me do what I prefer as long as it does not interfere with mine or the baby's health of course.

Other than the doctor’s appointment tomorrow, other things going on for me are that I picked the pediatrician (check!), and I met with another daycare today. I have to say the whole daycare search has not been going very well though. Daycare is just so expensive that it makes the whole process very frustrating. We previously found one that we loved, but since we can't afford it, we are still looking. So far, we haven't found any places that are significantly cheaper. Plus, they don't seem to be nearly as good as our first choice. So, it looks like we are going to be doing whatever we can to be able to afford to send Christina to our first choice daycare. It is going to be difficult, but I don't think we have any other choice.

Well, I think that's about it for now. I've been crazy busy at work lately trying to prepare for maternity leave and for our office move, so I'm pretty tired all of the time. I'll try to come back soon though and update you on everything.

Baby Shower

A couple of weeks ago I had my baby shower. I had been waiting sooo long for it. It turned out really well. We had it at my mom's house, at my request. I always love having parties and get togethers there. It is just so much more comfortable than a restaurant to me.

Anyway, my mom, my sisters, and my friend Danah did a great job pulling it all together. It was really nice to see all of my siblings and my friends in one place. Of course there were a bunch of out-of-towners that couldn't come, but that is always expected. My sister, Mindy, was able to come all the way from Georgia though and my Aunt Debbie came from Virginia. So that was really awesome.

I got a lot of really great gifts and amazingly, I have everything put away and organized at home already. I mostly got it done within the first couple of days after the shower, but there were a few lingering items that I just recently found a home for.

The baby's room is now even further along than when I last posted pictures, although it is still not completely finished. I am waiting for my registry completion coupons from Babies-r-us and Target so that Nik and I can go shopping for the rest of what we need. Plus, there is still one wall in the room that I'm not sure what to do with. So, I've been brainstorming on that.

I will post more pictures once the room is really finished. I also need to post pictures of the baby shower. But, I was bad, and I didn't take any pictures. So, I'm waiting to get pictures from my friend Linzy. Not only did she take pictures of the shower, but afterwards she took some pregnancy photos of me as well. I'm excited to post those too!