My Breastfeeding Story

I'm so excited to have my breastfeeding story featured on Julie's blog today, the Girl in the Red Shoes! Her series The Breastfeeding Diaries helped me tremendously through out my pregnancy and through my ups and downs with breastfeeding.  

I knew that I wanted to try breastfeeding, but I had myself pretty much convinced that it wouldn't work out for us.  In my group of family and friends I don't know anyone that was successful at breastfeeding.  It seemed so foreign and odd to me.  

                                              

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Fortunately for myself and my daughter, Charlie, breastfeeding did work for us.  A quick trip down memory lane; Charlie was born two weeks early.  If you want the whole birth story, it's over on my blog, but the gist of it is she was born within 10 minutes of our arrival at the hospital.  The entire hospital staff was amazing.  My labor and delivery nurse was a rock star and she's the one that helped me with breastfeeding the most.  She asked if I wanted to and if I had taken any classes.  Funny thing about it, I was scheduled to take a breastfeeding class the following night.  Ya know, since I wasn't expecting baby girl to arrive for two more weeks.  Lucky for me, L&D nurse had 4 kids herself and had breastfed all of them.  Like I said, rock star.  

Our breastfeeding journey has been mostly without complications.  Unfortunately, my daughter does have silent reflux.  She spits up way more than she should with the occasional screaming session when it's bad.  Other than that, I have been very, very lucky with how breastfeeding, pumping/working have gone for me.  But what I really wanted to touch on were some of the subjects or thoughts that I never ran across in all my blog reading, research during pregnancy and even afterwards.  

My first thought about breastfeeding is that it's a huge sacrifice.  

It's a sacrifice for both parents but mostly for mom. Dad has to sacrifice the ability to feed baby. This can change as mom starts to pump and perhaps daddy can do a bottle a day.  But mostly it's a sacrifice for the mama. Baby is fussy or has a lot of gas? Mama needs to change her diet. Whether it's a simple fix as avoiding spicy foods or a major change as dropping dairy completely. Baby needs to eat every 2 hours? That's all you mom. Baby wakes in the middle of the night? Right again, mom, you're up. Mom returns to work and has to pump to supply for her baby.  It's a sacrifice of your body in the most amazing, extreme way possibly.

And although the first few weeks are painful, they're amazing. The cluster feeding is HARD and you'll want to throw in the towel. But don't. Because those only last for so long. Then you hit this honeymoon phase, where it's all just clicking. This is usually right before you return to work. The crappy part is, when you return to work it goes back to hard. Not the breastfeeding part, the figuring out how to continue breastfeeding and working.  

 Our first, at home, milk coma 

So since going back to work is the norm, there's the pumping while being a full time mom.  It is the most aggravating, annoying, rewarding task I've ever endured. Spoiler alert, you may not pump the number of ounces you need while at work. In fact, you may need to get up in the middle of the night or earlier in the morning to add in a pump session (while you watch your baby who sleeps through the night on the monitor). Only then do you (barely) have enough ounces for the day. Like I said, sacrifice.  And while we're talking about pumping, don't always follow the recommendations.  Follow your gut.  I was only pumping 20-30 minutes when I first came back to work and that certainly wasn't cutting it.  I simply thought my pump just wasn't the same as my baby and I wasn't able to empty out with it.  Wrong.  Now I pump 40-45 minutes to feel empty. And you should feel empty after you finish pumping.  That's how you signal your body to produce more. Play with your pump, push the let down button more than once and adjust the settings.  Find the right balance for you.  Also remember to eat.  And eat a lot.  I experienced a major decline in my already risky supply during a week that I just didn't feel hungry.  Once I got my appetite back, everything returned to normal. 

My breastfeeding tips to share it would be these two favorites. Because I'm so well endowed and my daughter is such a peanut, I have to hold my breast while I'm nursing. All of that careful preparation for my "nursing station" was not necessary. I can't reach a single item. Do not fear, you learn to adapt. For here is my secret - those trusty receiving blankets? Ball one up and stick it under the boob so you have a free hand. Another fabulous secret? Netflix and/or your DVR.  During our entire maternity leave, I would go downstairs to our living room for the middle of the night, early morning nursing time.  I'd watch one of my recorded shows while nursing.  Then once Charlie was satisfied, I'd lay her down on the couch beside me so I could pump.  All in all, it would take me about an hour to an hour and a half for this process.  

Every time she nurses, she sleeps... 

Breastfeeding in public is intimidating and scary.  At least it was/is for me.  I hate it.  I cringe when it is necessary.  After a while I've learned to adapt and find the right balance for myself and Charlie.  A lot of times, I found myself in the backseat of my car to nurse while out and about. As much as you prep for a nursing station in your house, prep for a nursing station in your car.  Find out where to plug in your phone that you can still reach it.  Where to sit that you can see the clock but still be able to nestle yourself down in so you're not completely visible to the windows.  And if you're in the market for a new car, may I recommend leather seating?  Baby spit up of your own milk is no joke.  When public breastfeeding was the only option, I'd recommend the Aden and Anais swaddling blankets.  Aden and Anais blankets are wonderful for covering up while nursing.  They're light weight and are plenty big enough.  Tie a knot in one corner, place the knotted end under your bra strap opposite of the side you're going to nurse on.  Then sling the blanket behind your neck and over the shoulder of the side you'll be nursing on.  Big cover, breathable for baby. 

Even if breastfeeding is going well, there's always the critics.  Perhaps its the type of person I am, but I have a bit of guilt over the fact that I was able and still am breastfeeding.  Several of my friends, family members have formula fed their babies.  And while that doesn't bother me a bit, it's the comments they make that bother me more.  Whether they realize it or not, they make me feel guilty for being able to breastfeed.  Most I think are trying to justify for themselves why it didn't work or they chose not to, rather than realize that they're hurting my feelings.  Just keep in mind that not only are there individuals that push the breastfeeding, there's always some on the other side of the fence too with their own opinions and everybody will let you know how they feel about it. 

               

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I didn't expect to enjoy breastfeeding.  But I have so much.  My daughter is still exclusively fed breast milk via bottle or nursing as of 5 months.  Currently we're continuing day by day and slowly introducing solids.  Although it gives me some anxiety trying to figure out when the right time for us to wean or if my supply will keep up, I enjoy it more than I can say.  Because this little girl is growing, thriving on what my body can give her.  How cool is that? 

Postpartum

Let's talk postpartum.  As in the hours, days and weeks after you've delivered that precious bundle who steals your sleep and sanity.  I say that with love.  I really do.  
My situation is obviously mine alone, but here are my thoughts. 
After Charlie was born, she nursed and the nurses took her off to be registered I was able to get a shower.  The initial getting off the bed you just labored in is gross.  Absolutely gross.  Because with each movement you make, you gush blood.  It's a period but way worse.  Be prepared to just feel gross.  The shower will help with that and if you have the energy, just stand under that hot spray for as long as possible.  [Insert here Pinterest Lie Number One: Do NOT bring your own towels for yourself.] You will continue to bleed for several weeks but those first few days in the hospital will be the gushing sort.  You'll want those icky, scratchy hospital towels to get blood stains rather than your own.  Do bring a nice towel for the husband.  Seeing as the hospital towels supplied to us were similar to hand towels, my poor 6'5" husband was short changed.  Thankfully I had thought ahead on that one.  

I did pack my own granny underwear and pads just in case the hospital supply was not comfortable.  The first day and night I used the mesh underwear and pads provided.  By the second day the bleeding had slowed and become much more manageable so I switched to my own things and was comfortable.  In my opinion pack 'em and be safe.  Your body just went through some serious trauma, no sense being even more uncomfortable if you don't have to. 

Pinterest tells you to get witch hazel pads and Dermoplast.  Witch hazel pads are amazing. Take those suckers and line them along your pad.  Relief.  I used the Dermoplast once and about lost my mind. I know that every one says to get the BLUE can.  And I emphasize for the love of all things get the damn BLUE can, not the red.  I couldn't find a blue can any where to save my life.  The Dermoplast website said that there wasn't any major differences between the two but they recommended the blue can.  However, all I had was the red. Once was all it took for me to toss that cursed can in the garbage.  Get the BLUE can.  

I am 3 weeks postpartum as of today and my bleeding has finally slowed to a very light period.  In fact the only time I bleed is when I nurse and my uterus contracts.  Oh and on that note, if you're going to nurse, you feel your uterus contracting when you nurse.  Yup.  I knew it did that but I had no idea how very much you could feel it doing that.  

So to sum up my postpartum recommendations
1. Don't bring a towel for yourself.  DO bring a towel for the husband. 
2. Bring those granny panties you don't care if you throw away and your own pads just for your sanity. 
3. Buy a surplus of witch hazel pads and line them along the pad every time you put a new one on. Thank me later
4. Buy the BLUE can of Dermoplast.  BLUE CAN. 
5. Uterus contractions.  Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours.  Do it.  
6. Not mentioned above but walk every so often.  Keep those muscles from cramping up.  Trust me, they cramp up. 
7. Also not mentioned above, but note worthy, take a stool softener daily.  Trust me.  And start the day you give birth.  

Charlie's Birth Story

On Tuesday June 3rd I was sent home with instructions to return that Friday for another NST. It would have been my 7th.  Through the beginning half of the pregnancy my mom and I had planned to start making trips to the maternity ward via both the main entrance and the ER entrance after each OB appointment so that we had a fairly good idea of where to go.  That planning was carried out just not in the way we thought.  With so many NST under our belts we felt like a couple of regulars and go to know the nurses in Triage pretty well.

Tuesday night was spent at home, relaxing with my husband as best as we could.  I decided for the first time in weeks I was going to sleep in the bed.  I wasn't as swelled as I had been and that had been my main reason for sleeping on the couch, in order to keep my feet propped. I didn't have my normal period like contractions.  There was nothing out of the ordinary.  The next morning I got up with the husband at 6 and went to pee.  I did my business and as I was walking back out of the bathroom suddenly felt wet again.  Like I had peed myself.  Back to the bathroom I go, feeling less than awesome at the prospect of peeing myself.  Again, after finishing up, I go to stand up and it happened again.  I sent my husband to work regardless because I honestly didn't think it was my water breaking.  It was such small amounts.  There was no big gush, no continuous flow.  I continued to leak for another hour.  At 7 I decided I better get a shower because if this was indeed my water I wanted my hair to be washed.  I showered, called my mom and told her to get her shower.  This was at 7:35.  At this point I was starting to cramp.  Similar to the cramping I had been having for the past two weeks.  They continued to intensify.  I paced in my bathroom and counted when the worst ones hit.  At 7:46 I called my husband and told him he better head home. I called my mom back at 8 and told her what was going on.  She mentioned she needed to dry her hair and I told her to do what she needed to do.   At this point I'm still in denial.  The contractions are coming pretty close together.  It felt like one had just mellowed out when it would start to rise and peak again. By 8:35 I was downstairs with my bag and Charlie's.  I called my mom repeatedly to get her to hurry and made the call to my husband that he needed to meet us at the hospital.  Contractions were intense.  So incredibly painful.  But still period type cramping.  It was all very low type pain.  My belly didn't get rock hard like I was told to look for.  I had no pain going along the top of my belly and seizing up my entire belly.  Rather it was all really low, low pain.  I put the dogs in their cages and stood in our downstairs bathroom and ran cold water over my hands.  Bending over with the high peaks of each contraction seemed the best option.  I screamed and was completely vocal.  I figured what the hell, I'm home alone anyways.  My poor dogs were traumatized by the experience and I feel so bad.  Also at this point I am having the incredible urge to poop.  Note to all those - DO NOT TRY TO POOP.  Thankfully I was pretty aware that this was bad considering I was still in my house and a 40 minute drive away from my hospital.  My mom got there I would guess around 8:40ish.  It took us a little while to get me in the car because I was contracting about every 2 minutes.  I didn't realize this until I was in the car and able to just stare at the clock as the waves of pain hit.  I can remember that I couldn't sit back and I couldn't sit on my butt at all.  I turned my body to the side and held on to the "oh shit" handle at the roof above the door.  Ya know that breathing technique that everyone in the movies uses when in labor?  Do it.  No joke.  For whatever reason it helped immensely to focus on puffing out air when those high peaks hit.  My mom drove 85 mph down the highway to get us to our destination.  With each low point I was tell her to watch her speed and that everything was fine.  When the high peaks hit I was begging her to let me poop and I swear I'd clean it up when this was all over.  I knew I couldn't poop or push but I will secretly admit there may have been a time or two my body just did it without my control.   We arrived at the hospital at 9:29 according to my mom's car clock.  She pulled into the valet parking, jumped out of the car, leaving it still running and her door hanging open, yelling at the attendants that we were in labor.  Lucky for us, I was at a high peak as we came rushing into the valet and one of the attendants had already rushed inside to get me a wheelchair.  An adorable older and very scrawny looking older woman came over to assist us getting up to maternity.  She was rushing with all her little body had.  I was at a low here and told her it was all going to be fine, she didn't have to over tax herself.  I apologized for being too heavy.  She was incredibly sweet and she went flying up the hallway towards maternity and rushed me through.  As we wheeled up to the nurses station they all seemed to be standing around very calm.  I could feel another contraction rising up and quickly mentioned that I had been 4 cm dilated on Monday and I was in intense pain.  My mom tells me I apologized several times here too.  I distinctly remember seeing a girl I went to school with and tried to have small talk but another contraction hit and I was wheeled in a labor and delivery room.

Things begin to get blurry here.  I remember several nurses.  I know that there was a nice, petite woman who introduced herself as Patty and my mom and I were so excited to actually meet her.  Her name had been mentioned several times over my NST trips but we had never met.  She was the Midwife that worked the maternity ward Monday through Friday.  She was the midwife who delivered my little girl and God bless that woman.  Another contraction hit as we were trying to get me undressed.  I vaguely remember asking for my epidural and Patty said she'd like to check me and see where I'm at first.  Fine, no problem, I was helped out of my shorts and underwear and told to lie back on the bed.  I did the best I could but quite frankly that position sucked and I really didn't want to.  When Patty checked me, I remember looking at her face as her eyes got serious and she nodded to the nurses.  A secret code I guess.  Her words to me were "when you feel that urge to poop again, you go ahead and push."  I hadn't remembered telling her that I wanted to poop, but I must have.  Quickly I was pushed back to lay down on the bed and stir ups were brought out.  I asked about any type of pain medication and I was informed that the baby was right there.  I wouldn't be getting anything.  Another contraction hit and I feebly pushed.  I know I slacked on that first one.  I was terrified.  No pain meds? Nothing??? I know I had said if I could I would try to but damnit at this point I couldn't.  I was in immense pain and I did NOT want to do this natural.  I also noticed the mirror that folds out from the ceiling.  I asked that it be put away and everyone questioned if I was sure to which I became adamant that the mirror needed to GO.  With the next contraction Patty encouraged me and said it would be over so quickly if I just gave it my best.  So I pushed.  The nurses kept trying to get me to hold my own legs up to my chest and that wasn't what I wanted to do at all.  At some point when Charlie was crowning when my husband got there and walked into the room.  He got to see that.  The man who didn't want to be in the room at all got to see all the glory.  But he did so good.  He came up by my head and I held his index finger, squeezing with everything I had as I pushed.  Patty at some point gave me two numbing shots.  She apologized for the pinch I would feel and I think I may have laughed at her or said she was crazy if she thought I cared about any pinch at this point.  The nurse to my left tried to put an IV in my hand to get me some fluids but that was forgotten.  Patty also was awesome and continued to use something that was really cold feeling as Charlie crowned to help with any tearing.  There was definitely the ring of fire as they call it.  In some ways, it was better because I knew if I could get past that ring, push through that pain, the rest was way easier.  And its so true.  Once you push out the head, the rest of the body seems to just gush out.  I felt so dirty to be honest because it was a big gush.  Ew.  They put her up on my chest and I remember stating, my gosh there's really a baby.  I think in some ways I have been distant during the pregnancy.  I wasn't able to totally emotionally connect to Charlie because that just isn't the type of person I am.  But there she was, squishy and screaming on my chest.  Patty asked Steve to cut the cord and he refused, telling her to let Grandma get that option.  He kept kissing my head and telling me how awesome I did.  They took her away to get weighed and checked out.  At this point Steve went with her while Patty continued to help me birth the placenta.  The pain does not stop when the baby exits.  The placenta wasn't brutal but it was definitely uncomfortable.   As was when Patty was cleaning me up and checking for any tears.  I didn't need any stitches.  Thanks to that wonder woman of a midwife.

Things are blurry and my sense of time is completely out of whack.  I know that they brought her back over to do skin to skin and thats' when I went through the registration process.  Steve signed a bunch of papers etc.  Odd.  Doing it all AFTER the baby has arrived but the little lady was not waiting.  They asked if I wanted to breastfeed and if I had taken any classes.  They all got a chuckle when I mentioned I had intended to go to the class being offered the following night.  The nurse, Amy I think was her name helped me get a latch and how to hold the breast etc.  She has 4 kids herself and breastfed all 4.  She was the nurse that stayed with me for the duration and I absolutely loved her.

Steve had called his mom and she arrived not long after Charlie was born.  In fact she was walking into the maternity ward when the nursery rhyme went off which indicates a birth.  So after I was cleaned up, everyone got to pass her around while the staff got a room ready for me.  I had sent the entire system into backward motion.  I was honestly so relaxed and content at that point.  There was relief that it was over and it hadn't taken several hours.  Joy that she was here.  Pure amazement and gratitude for my mom and for my husband.  Even then though I don't think it completely hit me how close we had been to having a baby on a main highway.  I mean.. one traffic light too many and I'm not sure how this story would have gone.

Patty mentioned that if there is a next pregnancy I will need to have my cervix length measured at 20 weeks and up to ensure that isn't the reason I delivered so fast.  A shortened cervix can cause preterm labor.  Oh and I also had to provide a pee sample to ensure that I wasn't on drugs.  Everyone was apologetic about it but I could've cared less.

So in conclusion, Charlotte Lynn was born June 4th at 9:40 am after mom pushed for a measly, excruciating 10 minutes.  She weighed in at 6lbs and 7 oz and was 19inches long.  And my gosh are we so very blessed to have her in our lives.

37 Weeks to 38 weeks

I slacked.  Major, big time slacked. And as stated in posts before, my OCD self is just slightly frantic about it.  I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that things didn't go as I had planned.  And that it's okay.  The way everything happened turned out to be for the best.   So let's look back at the last 2 1/2 weeks because it was a doozy.

At 36 weeks we had an OB appointment and got my first cervix check.  At that point I was dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced.   This is also when they started to get semi concerned about the swelling.  Which I'm not even joking was ridiculous.  I'm not saying that because it was just ridiculous to me, it was ridic to anyone that saw me.  I didn't have knee caps.  Or ankles.  And my feet? Don't even get me started.  My blood pressure was also really high at my appointment.  The midwife gave me the option of a non stress test directly after the appointment or on Friday of that week.  (my appointment had been on a Monday) I chose to have the non stress test on Friday because Monday morning had been extremely stressful for me at work, the OB appointment had run almost 45 minutes late and I was over it that day.  I continued to work the rest of the week, taking off that Friday for the non stress test.  On Friday, my mom came along and I got to have blood work done along with a pee sample and being strapped to a machine that measuring baby's heart rate and contractions for an hour while they processed my blood work.

The following week, at my 37 week appointment I was still at 1 cm and about 60% effaced.  At this point I saw another midwife in the office.  Again my blood pressure wasn't where they wanted it and my swelling was pretty bad.  Midwife Vivian sent me for non stress directly following my appointment.  Stabbed again for blood, asked for more pee and strapped up for another two hours.  This was on May 27th.  Apparently my pee sample showed higher proteins than they cared to see so they sent me home with a 24 hour pee collection kit.  Oh yes.  That was a joy.  I had joked through the second half of the pregnancy that they should provide much larger cups in the OB office to provide our pee samples.  I got my wish.  I was given two large orange jugs along with a white "catch tray" it sits on the seat of your toilet and you pee right into it.  A very easy process.  However, the pee has to be kept cold.  So I had to call off work.  And I had to keep my own pee in a nasty orange colored jug in my fridge.  Gross.  Wednesday the 28th we, my husband and I headed back down to the hospital to turn over my pee jug.  And to sit through another stabbing for blood, and non stress test.

If you've been keeping count that's three non stress tests.  My arms looked like I was an addict.  And with each non stress test came a new story of the people behind the curtains to either side of me. The first time my mom and I were in, it was fairly quiet.  We got a room that time.  The second time we got to hear the tales of a 309 pound woman who only smoked 3 cigarettes a day now that she was pregnant and hear her list off all of the STDs she had experienced.  Oh yes and she remembers the exact day of her last surgery because it was the day she met her fiance.  Ya know, directly after she had her wisdom teeth extracted.  Palm to forehead.  The third NST was no different and didn't fail to disappoint on entertainment. There was a woman who gave birth.  Beside us.  Right there.  She was a trooper and pushed her little bundle of joy out within minutes of her first moan and the nurses encouraging words.  My husband's eyes were saucers.  Remember through the entire pregnancy he has stated repeatedly that he would not be able to make it in the room.  He insisted he couldn't handle it.  Now, here we are and he got to listen to a real birth.  I joked that I hoped I went as fast as that lady did.  Little did I know.

So at NST #3, they tested my 24 hour urine before I was released to go home.  Up until this point nobody in the medical profession seemed really excited about my swelling.  And the swelling was the only major symptom I was experiencing.  Up until this point the proteins in my urine hadn't been concern worthy I suppose.  So in my head, I figured this was just another waste of time and I'd be sent home.  Not to be the case.  Instead Midwife Vivian AND Doctor K came into my little curtain portion of Triage and explained that I was experiencing a mild case of preclampsia.  Doctor K asked what kind of work I do and I said I do desk work but I'm also in the car 3 hours a day.  His exact words were, "okay, we're going to stop that."  I was dumbfounded and asked if I could at least finish out the week.  I got a definitive no as a response.  This was the week of Memorial Day.  So I had literally been at work for 6 hours on Tuesday and that was it.  Lucky for me my temp was trained and good to go.  But still it unnerved me and I was not at all happy with the circumstances.  My husband tried to calm me down the entire way home but I was just annoyed.  This wasn't part of my plan and the control freak in me was having trouble coming to terms.  In my head, I'd be home, my swelling would go down and little lady would come late.  Wasting a good three weeks of maternity leave on doing nothing.  Again, I'll state, little did I know.

After Doctor K delivered his oh so awesome news, they told me they'd see me back on Friday for another NST so that I was monitored before the weekend.  NST #4 was completed that Friday with no red flags and instructions to return Monday for NST #5.  I spent the weekend driving myself crazy but getting as much done as I could.  We finally go the dresser for in her room.  I didn't fill it or finish her room but darn it the dresser was there.  I got to sit outside in the sun and am still sporting those tan lines to this day.  I suffered for it with some major swelling though.  Laundry was done and I cleaned what I could with the energy I had left.  The husband and I also took the opportunity to go out to dinner and went to a buddy's campfire.  It was a good night, one that I'll remember for a while.  I felt almost normal as my swelling had REALLY decreased at this point. On Monday I had NST #5, sent home with another 24 hour pee collection.  My mom and I had lunch at the hospital, waiting around until my 38 week appointment that afternoon.

At my OB appointment I learned that I was 100% effaced and 4 cm dilated.  I wasn't totally surprised because I had been cramping for several days.  Period like cramps that were sporadic.  They'd be close to together and then fade off for a  hour or so.  I'd also had the mucus discharge going on since week 36.  Note to others, the plug may not come out in one big goop.  It took mine two weeks of mucus discharge before it was finished.  At the appointment Vivian asked me to be induced.  Well I don't even know if she asked.  I believe she phrased it more delicately saying that if I had a normal pregnancy going an induction wouldn't be necessary.  But the fact was I was experiencing a lot of other stuff and I was now in the high risk category so to speak.  I did NOT want an induction.  I agreed to an induction because health wise I didn't want to put myself or Charlie at risk.  I tried to reason with myself that I was already 4 cm.  Surely if I got induced it wouldn't be as bad as when a woman isn't dilating at all on her own.  So induction scheduled for June 10th.  Although Vivian repeatedly made the comment that she didn't think I'd make it to the following Tuesday for my induction.  I brushed her off. I have mentioned once or twice in this LONG post that I know very little.  And it is true.

Went home with a heavy heart, but at the same time relief.  Relief that I'd finally be meeting this little girl.  I had an exact damn date to put down in my control freak plans.  Completed my 24 hour pee collection and was back down at the hospital on Tuesday the 3rd for NST #6.  Gah, my poor arms. Stabbed again for blood work.  I tried to have them alternate each time but its much harder to get blood out of my right arm.  I have sucky veins.  The upside? Over all of this, I'm way better at handling needles.  Anyways, NST #6.  This time there was a young lady to my right that was experiencing severe pain that she insisted was a kidney infection.  Despite the doctor telling her that none of the tests showed such indication.  Regardless she was sent home with a prescription for some major pain killers.  Palm to forehead.  Again during my NST I was having some major period cramping.  The RN told me that she hadn't registered too many contractions so I figured that my period cramping either wasn't the real deal or wasn't what to be looking for.  Midwife Lori came in to see me and excitedly said "hey I hear we have a date next week!" Apparently she was the midwife on call and would be delivering should my induction go as scheduled. I was sent home with instructions to return for NST #7 on Friday.  Fantastic.

Spoiler alert, I didn't make it to NST #7.  But this post is WAY too long.

36 Weeks

The realities of 36 weeks is that I have no ambition to make this organized or pretty.  Down the road, my OCD self will be really pissed at my lazy, pregnant self but it is what it is.  Allow me to introduce my thoughts via bulletin points, chaotic style.

> Swelling.  Holy heck batman! Waist down I'm swollen like a balloon.  I had a tiny fear that it was weight gain at one point but my midwife assured me I'm just very swollen and retaining a lot of water.  The swollen feet suck but I can deal with that.  It's the swollen thighs and knees (not that they could be called knees anymore) are the biggest issue.  As if it isn't hard enough to climb in and out of bed, my car or even sit down to pee, lets add a whole 'nother level of discomfort there.  I have done everything they've told me to do.  I take B6 at night.  I get up and walk as much as I can, but lets face it, when you have these legs, walking is a trial.  I put my feet up etc.  Nothing is doing the trick.   We're to the point that I dropped even more money on maxi skirts because I can't fit into pants.  Not even maternity pants.  They won't go over the calves.

> I've said for a long time that I didn't think I'd go past 38 weeks.  In reality, I figured I was fooling myself but my gut just kept telling me 38 weeks.  Now that I'm 36 weeks and 38 is only two weeks away, I'm minorly freaking out about it.  I do not have the room finished.  There are no bags packed.  I haven't even gone to pick up all the little travel size shampoo etc items I need FOR the bags.

> Plan on attending a breastfeeding class June 5th.  Have yet to remember to register for it.  I'm rocking the awesome.

> My temp at work started last week and she's lovely.  Absolutely wonderful.  She's a quick learner and I feel a lot more confident to leave whenever the time comes.  Speaking of that, I'm thinking I will give a final day of June 6th.  A solid week before my due date.

> OB appointment on Monday was interesting.  For one the day started out badly.  I was extremely swollen (I'd say this is when the swollen knees/thigh issues began) and had a frustrating interaction with a coworker just before leaving to go to my appointment.  We waited for a long time at the OB, the room was extremely hot.  So hot that I felt like I was melting to the table.  So I had the swelling issues and an abnormally high blood pressure.  180 over something I believe.  My midwife took my blood pressure again at the end of the appointment and it had come down to 130.  She wasn't freaking out about it but she did ask that I have a non stress test done either right then or later in the week.  I opted for later in the week because I was over it, done, put a fork in me by that point.  So today I have my non stress test.  I have this nagging suspicion that she may recommend bed rest.  Or maybe that's my subconscious making wishes because I know that I won't let myself just stop working if there's no sign of Charlie.

> Also at the OB appointment I got the lovely Group Strep B test.  Ladies... Its not that bad.  It's seriously a cotton q-tip swab of your vajayjay and ass hole.  Literally.  But its over in seconds.  Secondly she asked if I wanted a cervix check since I was still a little early, she gave me an option.  I opted to find out.  I'm already sitting there sweating myself to death and exposed for the world to see - why the heck not.  Cervix checks, not that bad either.  Slightly uncomfortable and make sure you don't have to pee.  I'm not kidding, if you think there's a slight chance of needing to pee, walk your half naked self to the restroom before they do a cervix check.  Lucky for me there was some gain for my pain - dilated a tight 1 cm and 50% effaced!  And now that I've bragged... I'll be overdue.  lol

> My husband decided to have what he calls our "annual" Memorial Day picnic this year.  Mind you, last year was the first time we did it.  I emphasized that I'm sure people would understand us not having the picnic considering his wife is a waddling walrus right now.  He insists I don't have to do a thing.... so not a thing I have done.  Kiss this pregnant ass :) Please don't let me go into labor while these idiots are getting drunk at my house.

Pregnancy Symptoms Third Trimester

This is more of a random post, one that doesn't hold a whole lot of value but I'd like to look back on during future pregnancies and say, oh yes.. .that.
- No more slouching.  Who knew? Once that bump got it's own zip code it was all bets off on poor posture.  Leaning forward for too long or slouching in the slightest can cause anything from pain to acid reflex reactions.
- Pedicures done by yourself are a thing of the past.  I hate having my feet looking like a hot mess but I also don't have the funds to pay someone else to give me pretty toes.  Also, painting my finger nails is difficult anywhere  but at the dining room table.  Again, related to the leaning, slouching thing.
- Exhausted.  I expected this to happen but I wasn't entirely aware of just how much this would happen or to what degree.  I am exhausted a lot.  An 8 hour work day is just too much some times.

[Edited and posted VERY late.  This post was stuck in drafts and obviously never finished]

34 Weeks

How far along? 34 Weeks (as of 5/06/14)

Gender: GIRL 

Maternity clothes?  I went shopping this past weekend with my mama and the intention to only get a few things.  Two bras, 7 shirts and 4 nursing tanks later - I walked out of Motherhood Maternity just a bit more in debt.  Ugh.  But truth be told, it was necessary.  The options of shirts I had was zilch.  And I needed something for my maternity pictures.  Done and done.

Stretch marks? There is one.  It goes the whole way across the belly horizontal beneath the boobs.   


Sleep: I've slowly found the right placement for the Bump Nest pillow.  I tried a night with all 5 pillows again just to be sure it's my body that's the problem and not the pillows.  I think generally I'm just going to be incredibly uncomfortable for the next few weeks.  I've debated sleeping on our couch a few times.  I can keep  my feet propped up and my upper chest to reduce the swelling in the feet and the acid reflux/heart burn I've started having at night. 


Movement: Yes.  My sister has been nicknamed Bean her entire life because my mom said she was constantly moving when she was pregnant with her.  Charlie isn't like that at all.  In fact I get the impression that Charlie is going to be a pretty calm baby.  Similar to her parents.  She's moving but she's not a bouncing bean a whole lot.

Food cravings: Random.  But thankfully haven't had too many of the musthaveitnow situations. 


What I Miss? Tanning. I'm ready to have my body back.  I'm ready to be able to take ibuprofen for my back pain and an Exlax for the constipation.

Symptoms? Pregnant!  So all of the above.  Swelling is awful.  It's my legs, my ankles, my feet.  I keep my feet propped up.  I should walk more but its hard when your job is at a desk 99% of the day.  I hate it.  They look awful and its kind of painful at times when they got real bad.

Nursery Progress:  Still need to get the dresser from my parents house.  Hopefully this weekend.

Best Moment this Week: Finished getting everything on the registry! Yay. Buying clothes that fit, thank goodness.   This coming week is crazy.  It is what I like to call my "hell week" of the year.  It starts with my brother in law's birthday, followed by my mom's birthday, then my sister's birthday.  Next up is Mother's Day, followed closely by my parent's anniversary and finished with my mother in law's birthday.  That's all from May 7th to May 16th.  Pray for my sanity to still be in tact by May 17th lol

OB Appointment: Measuring at 34 weeks, right on track.  One more two week appointment and then I'm up to every week.  And cervix checks.  Not so sure how I feel about those.   At this point I've gained what I think its 31 pounds.  Nobody has said I've gained too much or too little but I feel like I should be more careful.  That seems like so much.

Looking forward to: The next 6 weeks or so flying by! Deep down I think I'll go around 38 weeks.  I have no idea why.

Oh and ask and you shall receive.  I finally got some comments in public.

(1) At a baby shower for a girl due two weeks before me.  Her aunt was standing with me and the girl when the girl asked how I was feeling.  At the time I was hot flashing so bad and I must've made a face.  Her aunt piped right up and said, well she looks miserable and turns to her niece and says but you honey do pregnancy so well.  Shocked.  I just looked at the woman.  I had been feeling pretty good that day and didn't think I looked all that bad either.

(2) Guy that works in  our office part time came over and said "wow you look like you're ready to go soon"  I just turned to him and said I had 6 more weeks but thanks for making me feel so great about it.  He walked away quickly thank gosh.

 

33 Weeks

How far along? 33 Weeks (as of 4/29/14)

I can tell that my ambition to complete these things and even take pictures is dwindling down to very very little! I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the pregnancy because already I love looking back at past updates.

Gender: GIRL 

Maternity clothes?  Oh man.  This is bad.  I have very few clothing options these days.

Stretch marks? There is one.  It goes the whole way across the belly horizontal beneath the boobs.   


Sleep: I broke down and purchased the Bump Nest pillow.  It just arrived yesterday and the first night with it I was semi  impressed.  It's definitely way easier than rearranging 5 pillows every time I flip flop back and forth.  Definitely great for the pillow between the legs, and support for the belly.  It's soft and beautiful.  But there wasn't much support for the boobs.  I think I just need to play with it a little more or maybe put one pillow beneath me there.  Definitely have increased the pee breaks to twice a night.  


Movement: Yes.  Some days a lot more than others.  She's currently hanging out like a horseshoe.  With her feet to the left side and her head on my right side.  This worries me and I hope she turns eventually. Still the same.   I want to note that she's way more active in the earlier mornings, like when I drive to work or sitting at my desk and then again in the evenings.

Food cravings: Oh holy moly.  I should've kept my mouth shut about that havetohaveitrightnow kind of cravings.  Because they're here and they're real and my goodness.  It just hits you, like bam, now.  I don't always give in because realistically I can't.  Currently? Craving the pizza from a local shop when I was attending WVU.  Sigh. Not happening.  But a girl can dream.  Also ice water.  Love it, drink almost a gallon a day.  And lemonade, oh I love me some lemonade but the heart burn is ridic so I don't indulge too much. 


What I Miss? Tanning. Sunshine. Sex. Cuddling with my husband in a comfortable fashion.

Symptoms? Pregnant!  So all of the above.  Pelvic pain at night if I stay in one position too long.  I go to roll over, difficult enough but then you add in this horrible pain in the nether region.  Acid reflux has kind of backed off a bit.  Still have heartburn but not as often either.  The expanding uterus/rib pain I've mentioned before comes and goes.  Swelling.  Lord have mercy my calves and feet swell up like balloons.  I try to keep them elevated, I try to walk every hour - ugh. I hate it.  Still taking Zofran twice a day for nausea.

Nursery Progress:  We just about finished the room.  By golly the girl has a light/fan, plugs and light switches and they all WORK! YAY! I still need to get my dresser from my parents house along with finishing items off the registry.  This is giving me some major anxiety because I'm already uncomfortable.  I fear putting off the above items for too long will just be a disaster waiting to happen.

Best Moment this Week: Someone at the grocery store actually took notice that I was pregnant.  Normally this creeps me out and I've been pretty fortunate that no strangers have approached me or asked yet.  The majority of the time this thrills me because I don't want to be just the pregnant lady.  But at the same time, I"m 33 weeks pregnant I was sure some retard would notice by now and same something crude.  Anything.  Give me some rudeness people! Everyone warned me about the comments and I haven't gotten squat.  And I've been practicing my comebacks!

Looking forward to: Finished the items on the registry.  This includes buying the car seat... pretty important haha Nothing like procrastination.

 

32 Weeks

How far along? 32 Weeks (as of 4/22/14)

Gender: GIRL 

Maternity clothes?  Oh man.  This is bad.  I have very few clothing options these days.  The belly is suddenly so much more than it was before.  I'm 8 weeks out from D day and I hate to spend more money on clothes.  I really need to invest in the next size up of jeans.  However American Eagle isn't being fair and only have the next size up in an extra long length... yo, I'm 5'1.  Psh.

Stretch marks? I have a few, mostly on top near the boob region and all horizontal.  


Sleep: It comes and goes.  Currently I am sleeping through the night with 1-2 pee breaks.  Usually just one around 1 am.  Literally like clock work.  If I go to bed earlier though, the pee breaks increase and I'm up every two hours.  However, it doesn't seem to affect the sleep.  With my massive collection of pillows, I'm doing better falling asleep and staying asleep right now.  Fingers crossed it stays that way. 


Movement: Yes.  Some days a lot more than others.  She's currently hanging out like a horseshoe.  With her feet to the left side and her head on my right side.  This worries me and I hope she turns eventually.

Food cravings: Nothing specific.  The nausea is still around.  I don't know if its because Charlie is going through a growth spurt or if I'm just that lucky but it's there all the time.  


What I Miss? Tanning. Sunshine.  So very, very ready for sunshine, big fat belly or not.

Symptoms? Pregnant!  So all of the above.  Acid reflux seems to be a lot more these days.  Not so much heartburn, but if I burp or hiccup, I can feel that stomach acid coming up  my throat.  But after a little while the burning sensation will go away.  Pain.  I have this burning pain under my boobs, at the top of the belly.  Essentially it's my body stretching to accommodate and man does it hurt.  The most recent complaint is now having sharp pains throughout the belly.  Honestly, they feel like I have air bubbles or gas and my body can't release them.  My goodness do they hurt.

Best moment this week:  Having a good day.  My moods are so far from nice person at this point so any time I can be in a good mood and not want to rip people's heads off, that's pretty darn great.  Also, we fixed the crib debacle and managed to get a great deal on a crib at Walmart with a bundle deal to include the mattress.  Fantastic.  It got delivered and me and the dogs supervised as daddy put it together.  I'm in love.  We also had our baby shower this past weekend.  I'll follow up with more of that in another post.

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery... getting closerrrrrrr.  Just need to get the electric done and the fan installed.  Still.  As the weeks count down, I would prefer this gets done before our maternity pictures scheduled for next weekend.

31 Weeks, not a bump update

I am two weeks behind on bump updates.  And I find my enthusiasm and energy to keep those up to be declining.  We're 9 weeks out, give or take, from meeting this little girl and I'm exhausted.  I have no energy for anything really.  

As much as it troubles my OCD soul to break from the bump update form I've been using, I think I'll just write a bullet point post so I get those thoughts out.  I want to make sure I'm recording things even if they're not in the best format they can be.  

- for the baby shower (coming up this Saturday, holy cow that came fast) I wanted desperately to do something different for a guest book.  For my wedding shower I had a photo album with space beside the picture slot.  I had the guests sign beside an empty picture slot and took an individual picture with each of them.  I then make doubles of these pictures and sent a copy to the guest with their thank you cards.  I loved this but it was a lot of work and if I can't even type up a quick bump update - well I'm not hand writing thank you's, printing pictures etc for that.  lol So instead I went on to another idea that popped into my head.  I want to do a scrapbook of the pregnancy for Charlie to have.  First I went through my phone and saved any picture since we found out we were pregnant to my computer.  From there I edited each picture by adding text as to how far along we were in the pregnancy, what our thoughts were etc.  For the guest book portion, I have a mason jar stamp from our wedding.  I'm going to have mason jar cut outs at each guests place setting and ask them to give their best wishes to baby signing AND printing their name.  These will be scattered throughout the scrapbook.  Now... I got the pictures done and printed.  But I still need to make these mason jar cut outs.  Procrastinate much? 

- I'm tired.  I know I mentioned above that I'm tired but my goodness I'm tired.  I try nights without unisom and I have nights that I take the unisom and I'm still tired.  I can't get comfortable during the night.  And have begun to have some pretty uncomfortable pain beneath the bra area.  I'm torn on whether or not this is Charlie up in my rib cage or the bra being bad.  At this point I think it's a mixture of both. 

- I'm not hungry.  At all.  I eat small snacks through the day and very little at dinner because I have no interest in food.  But when I craving hits? My gosh, watch yourself.  The other day I went to three different stores, got a blister on my foot from walking in circles looking for Little Debbie coffee cakes.  All to no avail! Apparently they no longer make the items I wanted so desperately. 

- My feet seem to be forever swollen.  No matter the amount of time their propped up or the shoes I wear.  It drives me nuts. 

- I'm debating maternity jeans.  I waver on this a lot.  I'm 31 weeks and still wearing my original jeans with the help of a hair band and the tummy sleeve.  I feel incredibly grateful that I've made it this far and am thrilled with that.  I want to make it the whole way.  But the belly just keeps growing and I'm becoming increasingly uncomfortable.  It's mainly just during my drive to and from work.  Let's face it, no almost 8 month pregnant lady is going to be comfortable in the car for 3 hours a day.  Perhaps I can just wear yoga pants to and from work and change into my jeans at work.  It's a thought.  Anything to save money.  I most definitely do not want to invest in maternity jeans this late in the game.  

- Speaking of spending/saving money.  We had intended to use my crib from when I was a baby.  Well guess what? You can't buy crib mattresses to fit cribs that are 27 years old.  Everything is a standard size now and that standard size is about 5 x 10 inches too big.  So I had to add a brand new crib into the budget.  Cause I'm awesome, I also let my heart fall in love with a $300 crib.  It does eventually turn into a full size bed frame so I've justified myself with that cost savings for down the road. 

- Things I didn't think of before getting pregnant: I miss slouching.  With the rib pain, increased belly size etc, slouching is not an option.  I miss rolling over in bed easily.  I thought that was hard at 20ish weeks but my goodness.  And I know darn well in another 4-5 weeks I'm going to think it was a piece of cake at 31 weeks.  

- At the last OB appointment my midwife made the observation "you're not really into this whole pregnancy thing, are you"  Such an insightful one she is and my heart soared knowing that she was (hopefully) going to be the one to deliver this little girl.  I can't help it, I am not the crunchy granola type to embrace this experience with mother nature loving arms.  It's cool, its a miracle, I am thankful.  That said, the whole pregnancy has been uncomfortable.  I would much prefer to have her with me, out here.  I'm ready for that part.  i am not a patient person and I find that once I knew the baby was a girl, once I formed those thoughts, I was so ready to just be her mom right now. 

- We had our 3D ultrasound and it was so cool.  Everyone came, including my husband.  It was the first ultrasound he made it to.  And I think it definitely brought it home for him.  He's been even more sweet and doting since the ultrasound.  The crib ordeal? He says buy what I want.  My husband does NOT EVER tell me to buy what I want.  He knows better.  Anyways, the tech was going on and on about how long Charlie's legs were and how big her feet were.  Oh and she has a ton of hair.  I imagine it's jet black just like her daddies.  So really, the only thing we could be sure about was our daughter has my nose.  The rest? All daddy's girl. 

 

I think that's enough rambling for now. 

Nursery Progress

At this point, the only things left are finishing the electric, installing her fan, adding shelves to her closet and a few more decor pieces into the room.  We are missing the big dresser from my parents house.  I need to sew a new cover for her glider, as it is currently an odd, faded blue.  But for the most part, it looks like a nursery ya'll!

Without any furniture



 



 

Added in two little dressers and her crib.  Still need a new mattress.  This crib was mine when I was a baby and that's the foam mattress my mom got with it.  The two dressers were hand me downs.  The rocking horse came from a Zulily purchase, the crib bedding was custom made by a very sweet woman, Erin from Mouse and Me.  The sign was also an Etsy purchase from Vinyl Crafts.  Grey black out curtains from Walmart, green sheer curtains were a Martha Stewart on sale find at JcPenney and the green rug that you can just barely see if from Walmart.  I think that covers about everything.





(yes the horse moved)

29 Weeks

How far along? 29 (as of 4/1/2013)

Gender: GIRL 

Maternity clothes?  [Same] This is the same.  I can still wear my regular jeans with the hair band and the tummy sleeve.  Although I notice that I have to rely a lot more on the tummy sleeve to cover up my unzipped zipper.  Lately though, I've noticed my available shirts to wear are dwindling down.  My favorite WVU sweatshirt just barely fits on over the belly so I'm getting as much wear out of it as I can.  But I am definitely going to have to invest in a few more summer oriented tops for the next three months.

Stretch marks? I have a few, mostly on top near the boob region and all horizontal.  


Sleep: [Same] I have no pattern here whatsoever.  Some nights I sleep straight through.  Other nights I'm up down all night, whether to pee or just move.  I try so hard to sleep on my side but usually that wakes me up with pain in the ab area.. or what use to be known as the ab area.  I've also started sleeping with a pillow under my legs to help with swelling and this is throwing me off my game even more.  I've reached a point in the pregnancy that I'm all like don'tevertouchmeagaingrowl.  lol Husband is not a fan. 


Movement: Yes.  Some days a lot more than others.  On the days she isn't as active I'm poking and prodding to get her moving.  I've gone from being completely freaked out about her movement and my belly rolling to fascinated by it.  It still gives me the willies a little.  Especially when I sit down to pee.  Too weird.

Food cravings: Nothing specific.  For whatever reason the nausea has been pretty consistent this past week even with the Zofran.  So no big cravings.  Still loving cookies and milk and definitely trying to increase my milk intake.  


What I Miss? Tanning.

Symptoms? Pregnant!  So all of the above.  Acid reflux when I bend over.  Swelling in the hands and feet, though mostly the feet.  At my midwife appointment yesterday she suggested that I take a B6 daily to help with the swelling.  Her comment was that it couldn't hurt but it could help?

Best moment this week:  EEEKKKK the nursery.  Oh my gosh, the nursery.  Definitely not finished but I'll be posting pictures right after this post of progress thus far.  I'm pretty sure I passed my Glucose test?  I say pretty sure because nobody called.  No one really said much of anything.  The nurse shrugged it off and said if I hadn't heard anything that she's sure I passed.  Well okay then! lol

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery... getting closerrrrrrr.  Just need to get the electric done and the fan installed.  Holy crap! Our shower is coming up soon and I'm so ready to have it done and over with.  I'm so awkward at those type of events, even when I'm just a guest.  Also I booked out maternity pictures and I'll get to sit down with my photographer concerning the labor and delivery pictures.  Super excited for these.  And hoping we get some sunshine soon so I'm not so pale.

28 Weeks in Pictures

The bump picture.



 

And this week in pictures...

Kimber and Charlie sharing mommy's lap.  Let's hope they share this well in a few months



Cookies and milk, mmmm.



Baby shower prep, the belly catching all my hole punching



 

The diaper stash

 

28 Weeks

How far along? 28 (as of 3/25/2013)

Gender: GIRL 

Maternity clothes?  This is the same.  I can still wear my regular jeans with the hair band and the tummy sleeve.  Although I notice that I have to rely a lot more on the tummy sleeve to cover up my unzipped zipper.  Lately though, I've noticed my available shirts to wear are dwindling down.  My favorite WVU sweatshirt just barely fits on over the belly so I'm getting as much wear out of it as I can.  But I am definitely going to have to invest in a few more summer oriented tops for the next three months.

Stretch marks? Never to fear Mrs. Clawson! They are definitely popping up. lol I have a few, mostly on top near the boob region and all horizontal.  Which I still find odd.  I had this preconceived notion that stretch marks were vertical. Perhaps those are to come. 


Sleep: I have no pattern here whatsoever.  Some nights I sleep straight through.  Other nights I'm up down all night, whether to pee or just move.  I try so hard to sleep on my side but usually that wakes me up with pain in the ab area.. or what use to be known as the ab area.  I've also started sleeping with a pillow under my legs to help with swelling and this is throwing me off my game even more.  I've reached a point in the pregnancy that I'm all like don'tevertouchmeagaingrowl.  lol Husband is not a fan. 


Movement: Yes.  Some days a lot more than others.  On the days she isn't as active I'm poking and prodding to get her moving.  I've gone from being completely freaked out about her movement and my belly rolling to fascinated by it.  It still gives me the willies a little.  Especially when I sit down to pee.  Too weird.

Food cravings: Strawberries. I want strawberries so badly.   And thankfully strawberry season is finally upon us.  Loving it.  Also enjoyed a hamburger on the grill this week.  I'm not big on a lot of red meat but for some reason I needed that hamburger. 


What I Miss? Tanning.

Symptoms? Pregnant!  So all of the above.  Definitely experiencing acid reflux in the middle of the night randomly, but especially any time I bend to do anything.  Tying my shoes or even putting shoes on that I can't just slip on is awful.  Also experiencing swelling in the legs and feet starting this week.  To the point that the cowboy boots weren't working anymore. I got lucky and purchased my first pair of Sperry's on sale at Macy's and I'm in love.  They stretch with my swollen feet but they also contour back when my feet aren't so swelled.   The fingers and wrists are also swelling but not nearly as often as the feet.  I really don't want to go without my wedding rings.  I love them.  In fact, this has prompted me to post the story of how my engagement ring was found.  Also my husband and I designed my wedding band.  And even now, almost two years later, I can't stop looking at it.

Best moment this week:  I highly doubt any one else would mark their Glucose test as a high light of the week, but after the trouble I had to go get it done, I was thankful that the second try worked out.  The drink was nothing like I thought it was be, simply a flat orange soda.

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery... getting closerrrrrrr

27 Weeks

How far along? 27 (as of 3/18/2013)

Turned 27 years old on 3/17 and hit 27 weeks on 3/18. 

Gender: GIRL 

Maternity clothes?  Hm.  Can any one zip their jeans up at all?  No?  Good - I don't feel like I'm the only one partially naked.. Thank goodness for the tummy sleeve covering me up!

Stretch marks? I keep waiting for these to appear.  My husband insists that I don't look all that pregnant.  The only real mark I have is on the top of my stomach going horizontal across.  It's the oddest thing.  But maybe in my mind I'm assuming stretch marks only go vertical? 

Sleep: There was a time, not so long ago I couldn't figure out what these women were talking about having trouble sleeping.  I was a fool.  For the most part I'm up at least twice a night.  Whether I actually convince myself to crawl out of bed to go pee or not during those times is another story.  But I'm awake a lot more during the nights through this past week than I have been through out the entire pregnancy.  

Movement: Yes.  It feels a lot more active this past week.  Not just when I'm sitting or laying down but rather random moments throughout the day.  Definitely a lot more activity

Food cravings: Strawberries. I want strawberries so badly.   

What I Miss? Tanning.

Symptoms? Pregnant!  So all of the above.  Last night the strangest thing happened, I woke up in a coughing fit and the back of my throw was on fire.  The best guess I have is that stomach acid came up and choked me in my sleep, because that's what it felt like.  Otherwise, everything else is pretty consistent.

Best moment this week:  My birthday :) I took the day off work, intending to catch up on sleep.  That did not happen.  So instead I caught up on my DVR playlist and shopped with my mom for the baby shower.  The one morning instead of jumping out of bed right away, the husband and I cuddled for a few minutes.  Charlie never kicks very high in the tummy region, she always feels so low.  This morning, with daddy's arm around the tummy she was kicking the heck out of him.  I thought for sure he would pull away.  But he stayed put and commented that he's invading her space.  Emotional pregnant girl had a few tears. haha

 

 

Looking forward to: Finishing the baby's room. Once that floor is done and in, I can get started.   Logically I know that I'm pregnant.  There is no room for denial anymore.  But I think there's still this small part of me that doesn't completely realize a baby is coming into our house within a few short months.  Once that room is done I think that'll hit me a lot harder.

 

 

Random things : I went to get my Glucose test done on Saturday.  Unfortunately when someone gave me my paperwork they only handed me one page of the two.  I didn't notice this fail at all because well... I didn't know what to look for on these papers.  But the nurse at the lab told me she couldn't administer the test without the second page.  Frustrating to say the least.  I'll have to wait to take the test on this coming Saturday along side the dogs having their grooming appointment and getting ready for a friend's son's first birthday party.

Also had to call into the OB about refilling my Zofran prescription.  My Midwife had okayed the addition prescription refill at my last appointment but must have forget to get it called in.  This part didn't bug me.  The part that bugged me was the nurse  that I dealt with when I called in about the refill.  She questioned me repeatedly about my morning sickness, how far along was I, "how odd that I shouldn't be over this by now,"  etc.  My face hurt so bad from gritting my teeth until that conversation was over.  I realize that I'm out of the norm in the world of pregnant women, but that doesn't mean that I'm faking my sickness.  For goodness sake - is anti nausea medicine a high yielding return these days on the streets?  I mean, come on.

26 Weeks in Pictures

Oh the out takes.... Sigh.  The final photo being the best I got.  





 

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 (as of 3/11/2013)

How is there only 14 weeks left?!

Gender: GIRL 

Maternity clothes?  Hair band, tummy sleeve, regular shirts.  Also, had to move the bra out to the middle clip.  I was having some excruciating pain just under my left breast.  It was actually to the point that there was a lump type reaction.  Not necessarily a lump, but the muscle was all bunched up and swollen.  At first I got scared that I had a clogged milk duct or something already.  My sister had these in both of her pregnancy.  I took a day off work because of a bad cold that wouldn't go away and went bra-less all day.  Along with that and using a warm compress I was able to get the swelling down and the change in bra latch helped a ton.

Stretch marks? [Same] Not yet.  I'm thankful that up to this point, I've really only changed in the belly region.  My legs aren't growing, my ass etc.  My boobs, yes. And I imagine they'll definitely have stretch marks of some kind.  But who cares? Not going to lie, I've got a "boob fund" started to get these babies nipped and tucked after we're done having kids


Sleep: Good grief, the spring forward didn't not give me any spring in my day.  Instead, despite 12 (well actually 11 hours now that I think about it) of sleep I was sluggish and out of sorts all day until about 5 pm.  I should've just taken a unisom right then and there.  Instead I was super woman, grocery shopping, banana bread baking, laundry etc.  So other than Sunday night after the Spring Forward, sleep is about the same.  I get 7-8 hours during the week and 11-12 hours on the weekends.  


Movement: Yes.  She's a jumping bean in the mornings and evenings.

Food cravings: These come and go.  Nothing is a permanent fixture for long.  


What I Miss? Tanning.

Symptoms? Pregnant!  So all of the above.

Best moment this week:  Got the call about the wood for the flooring! Should be able to pick it up this week.  And the weather! We had two 50 some degree days.  It was glorious.  Hopefully this means the weather is gonna take a nice change.

Looking forward to: [Same] Finishing the baby's room. Once that floor is done and in, I can get started.  I've noticed some "nesting" has started to kick in.  Stupid things, that I normally don't fee inclined to do, suddenly needs done immediately.  For example, I don't clean my car.  I know, gross.  But I just don't.  This weekend resulted in a full clean sweep for the CRV and she's looking good.  Confession: the husband totally did it while the dogs and I sat back and watched.

25 Weeks

How far along? 25 weeks (as of 3/4/2014)

The trend of falling behind on these is catching.  I have to try to keep up with them.  Especially because right now I'm thinking of all the things that happened in the last week, not the week prior.  Genius I am.  Not.  Procrastinator for sure, though.  I'll get back to that later.

Gender: GIRL 

Maternity clothes?  Hair band, tummy sleeve, regular shirts.  Went out and got bigger cami's.  They're working rather well in the length department, but amazingly enough a little roomy yet in the bust.  I was also able to snag a few Old Navy cardigans for only $10/each at the outlets! Cardigans are my typical work attire with jeans, so as I've gotten bigger, I simply don't button them anymore.  This way the clothes I'm buying for work, will still be usable after baby.

Has anyone noticed when they pick stuff up for themselves, somehow without even telling yourself to, you end up in the baby department?  Nobody else? Just me.. odd.  Don't tell my husband 

Stretch marks? [Same] Not yet.  I'm thankful that up to this point, I've really only changed in the belly region.  My legs aren't growing, my ass etc.  My boobs, yes. And I imagine they'll definitely have stretch marks of some kind.  But who cares? Not going to lie, I've got a "boob fund" started to get these babies nipped and tucked after we're done having kids


Sleep: [Same] Same as usual.  For the most part it's pretty good.  Up until a week or so ago, I was able to sleep through the entire night without potty breaks.  I know, my bladder is amazing.  But as of the past week, I get up just once and I'm good the rest of the night.  Luckily this doesn't hinder me from falling back asleep. 


Movement: Yes.  She's pretty active these days.  And then there seem to be other days I don't feel her too much.  That makes me a little anxious but usually when I start to get too upset over it, she does a little trick and I feel reassured again.

Food cravings: These come and go.  Nothing is a permanent fixture for long.  


What I Miss? Tanning.    I actually googled to see if there was a tanning contraption of some sort that could tan just my upper half.  My arms, chest, face.  Really that's all I want.  I miss having a little color so much.  The Jergens does well but it's just not the same.

Symptoms? Pretty much the same.  Heartburn is off and on.  This is a little odd but I notice it a lot with anything that's red.  Red Gatorade, red sauce etc.

Best moment this week:  Steve finally felt the baby kick.  Not for lack of opportunities lately, but one night, he asked what she was doing.  And I said training for WWE.  He willingly put his hand on my belly and felt her kick.  There was some immediate jumping back and he wasn't all into it.  But it was cool none the less.  I honestly didn't know if he'd ever get to that point.

Looking forward to: [Same] Finishing the baby's room. Still on the search for cherry wood for the floors.  Still driving me nuts.  I'm not a patient person and I just want to decorate so badly.