Pregnancy Journal: Week 35 & 36

Week 35:

SO I went a whopping 4 weeks of not gaining a pound but yet my tummy was growing on target and then BAM! Gained 3 lbs in one week.  I’m not getting bent out of shape over it, I probably would be if I had gained over the last few weeks but I hadn’t so I’m telling myself this is a ‘free pass’.  Now if I gain 3 lbs next week… well… then I might be singing a different tune. 

Birth plan is done and printed.  OB said everything I have listed looks good and is within reason.  I’m leaving it up to Aaron if he wants to cut the cord or not, I’m really not an overly sentimental person so told him if he wants to that’s cool but he doesn’t have to.  He just has a very strict rule of no petting my head during labor.  Have you ever seen those labor videos where the guy is petting the woman’s head while in labor?  That really drives me nuts to even watch on tv.  NO petting my hair, bad enough my hair probably won’t look great but then to have it mashed to my forehead by extreme husband petting would drive me to probably slap him.  He gets it, we’ve had that talk.

Week 36:

Over the weekend, I felt a shift in how the baby was lying.  I feel her dropping.  At my 36 week appointment that was confirmed, she is head down and sitting low.  But my doctor said that doesn’t necessarily mean I will go into labor early.  My instincts are telling me I may go a tid bit early though.  Speaking of appointment…this is going to be a TMI but I find it important to educate those first-timers out there as this would have been nice to know going into it.  So I had read beforehand on Baby Center that at some point soon, I could be getting Group B Strep Testing.  As I read the description of this testing I started to panic, it consists of a swab of both the vagina and the rectum.  The second part of that freaked me out.  I was hoping my doctor’s office would not be that thorough but sure enough, I walk into my week 36 appointment and I found out they were thorough.  It wasn’t terrible but not pleasant and would have been nice to know a little more beforehand that this would be taking place.  So FYI first timers out there, chances are pretty high you will get this test too so be prepared.  It goes quick, it’s not that bad but I just didn’t get enough advance notice to mentally prepare for such.  

With the baby dropped and sitting lower, I now consider myself feeling ‘miserably-great’.  Walking hurts, sleeping hurts, sitting isn’t too bad but overall I’m just either in a slight pain or uncomfortable.  But doing great because all signs show baby is healthy and right on track, so miserable is bearable and I’d rather be the miserable one, not the baby.  So if you ask… I’m miserably-great because well that’s the truth! 

Justin Timberlake - Baby's First Concert

A few weeks ago I was listening to the radio and heard that Justin Timberlake was on tour and would be in the near vicinity in just a few short weeks.  My heart rate went up dramatically.  JT!!?!!!! AAHH!!!  I immediately called Aaron and in my excitement I said we have to go!  I got home and looked into tickets and my heart sank… $800 for JT tickets?!?!  NO WAY JOSE.   And get this, that was the price for the worst seats, way up high.  The tickets were sold out so the prices were marked-up resells.  But I’m someone who is pretty driven that if I really want something… I’ll be darned if I don’t find a way to get it.  And I’m not saying that to come off sounding ‘spoiled,’ I mean it in terms of I’ll find a way to work my magic and get a deal, I’m willing to invest the time!  

Literally not even a week away from the concert I’m checking back online again… with zero hopes of getting tickets and all of a sudden I perk up, what’s this?!?!  Tickets within Aaron and my discussed price limit in the lower level?!  Looks like great seats… heart beat increases.  Tickets bought!  Baby does a flip inside.  Whoohoo!  JT here we come!

It was an AMAZING concert!  So many favorites… but my 2 personal favorite songs were “Drink You Away” and “Mirrors”.  The stage actually lifted off the ground and floated to the back half of the arena where we got an up and close of JT for probably a good 30 minutes.  Let’s face it, JT is this era’s Michael Jackson. No doubt about that, even the media throws that comparison around. To see JT in concert is a HUGE deal! 

The only thing though… is half way thru the concert, I started to think, what if I’m hurting the baby inside of me by this loud music?  It was pretty loud.  At that point I was trying to enjoy the concert but was a worrying mom about if I could be hurting my baby’s ear drums.  So I Googled it on my phone and the consensus is that as long as I wasn’t right next to a speaker (which I wasn’t) and it was only for a few hours, it shouldn’t be harmful.   The possibility still didn’t rest easy with me though.  And it was something I completely didn’t consider until we were in the midst of the concert.  So would I recommend attending a concert at 8 months pregnant?  NO.  Not even for JT.   Would I recommend the JT concert in general, absolutely!! Worth every over-priced dollar.  I keep hinting to Aaron I want to go again maybe later this year while his tour is still on.  Of course we are making no definite plans until Baby Hyde arrives and we see how that goes. 

Other concerts on our 2014 bucket list… Garth Brooks and One Republic.  Garth hasn’t announced his tour dates yet.  One Republic, we have a few possibilities that are near us and they are touring with The Script so that makes that concert even more appealing to us.  Toby Mac is in the middle of his tour but nowhere that’s near us, darn.   Here are some pics from the JT concert.  

Pregnancy Journal: 33 - 34 Weeks

All the ‘big’ items are done, we are ready for Baby Hyde.  Well not really… I have a substantial list of small items that I would like to have done before her arrival so if she could just stay put for a bit longer, that would be nice. 

We are lining up our plan for when she will arrive.  Aaron is going to casually work from home that first week out of the hospital as I try to manage taking care of the baby mostly myself during the day and adjusting to the new routine.  Limiting all guest that first week home as it will be overwhelming enough.  The second week, my mom is coming to help out.  And from there we have some additional visitors/help sporadically.  I’m expecting the worse… lack of sleep, no showers, quick runs to the grocery store, frozen not fresh meals (or take-out), irritated/frustrations that come with learning how to be a mom.  But hoping for the best too as I’m not sitting back leisurely waiting for disaster to strike, I’m learning as much as I can now from all sources and preparing to the best of my ability.  But I am fully confident that I can do this!  There will be bumps in the road, maybe a few calls to Aaron freaking out during the day but I'm going to try to be as tough of a cookie as I can and figure things out on my own.  I'm going to be tired.  I'm going to be cranky.  I might smell.  I might not have a clean house and yes that is going to drive me nuts.  But one thing I don't want to loose sight of is being grateful for our blessing, no matter how hard it may get. 

Prepping for Charley too.  Even have some special Charley toys tucked away for when baby comes to make her feel special.  I’m not too worried about Charley, she’s pretty adaptable and I think she will handle it well.  But she sure does LOVE getting her own attention and it will be important to not neglect her so she doesn’t become jealous.  She especially gets wound up when visitors are over so that might be a little bit of a tough balance when visitors are there to see the baby, not Charley.  I'm not sure how I will handle that yet, I don't think trapping her in the spare room or outside is going to make things better.  Maybe that is when I bust out a treat a few minutes into the visit to distract her. I have one friend who offered to take her to the dog park for me.  If anyone else out there wants to come walk Charley, I'd be more than happy to let you this Spring!  Just know that she isn't an easy walker and is strong.  In addition we have some trustworthy local friends who have offered to babysit (the baby not Charley) when needed.  So I'm starting to feel some support outlets starting to pour in, which is nice to know that we have that option if needed.  Aaron and I feel it's very important that we still get a date night out once a month, even if it's just a few hours as we both want to be cognizant in protecting our marriage during this transition.  

I’m still finalizing my details for my maternity leave, it’s looking like it will be 8 to 10 weeks.  Which I’m hoping is enough.  My boss has been so awesome, he is pretty much letting me have whatever time I need and has even told me that if I need to ease back into things, I can.  So I feel a sense of relief/no pressure from work and the support from my boss has been wonderful but I also want to be mindful and not take too much time, especially since I’ve only been at my new job for 6ish months. 

As I get bigger and more uncomfortable I think I tell Aaron this every single day… when this baby comes out, I’m going to strap her to the front of you and you are to wear her all day long so you know how I feel right now.  But that will just be 6-8 lbs, we need to add some water bags and tape them to the front of him to add an additional 20 lbs.  And then once he gets all that on, I’m just going to jab him in the side every now and then to give him the feeling of what it feels like to have a kung-fu fight occurring inside of you.  Of course I won’t really do this but I’d sure love for him to carry this baby for just ONE day to see what it feels like.  Kid you not, I bet I tell him of this every single day. 

I don’t know if I just have a more active baby than others or what but I’m not kidding, I feel like I’m in a kung-fu fight, my sides get sore from her kicking the crap out of me.  Some days I feel like I’m black and blue inside.  I have some intense strong movements going on in there.  Which they say are all signs of a healthy baby but wowzas is she STRONG and ACTIVE!

33 Weeks!

34 Weeks - Pretty sure I grew quite a bit this week! 

Maternity Pics - IS A MUST DO!

A few weeks ago, after my baby shower I had one of my bestie's from college who owns her own photography business take our maternity pictures.  Honestly... if it wasn't for being friends with the best photographer ever, I probably would have not gotten this done.  But seeing how awesome and special the pictures and video turned out, I'm SUPER glad we did take them.  

The reason why I wanted to forego them is because I think a lot of maternity pics are cheesy.  I don't need a picture of my bare stomach, nor does any one else need to see that.  Or you see the ones where couples are forming a heart on the tummy, that's like extra cheese on cheese to me.  If that's your thing, that is fine but it's just not mine.  And get that I fall into the minority on that as most people think that is a neat picture.  Although if you notice the last picture in this video, Aaron slipped a heart in on me when I wasn't paying attention and surprisingly.. I think it ended up being a cute picture.  

The reason why you should absolutely get maternity pictures taken... because it really makes you realize how special of a time this truly is.  It's easy to get caught up in the planning and the baby checklists and don't take a moment to just smile and document the new life growing inside.  I don't know if my daughter will appreciate this video as much as I do but it's really something unique to show her someday.  

Turn up the sound when you watch this, the song is really cool.  Jackee did a phenomenal job!  Click on link to view: 

http://video214.com/play/d8BkH0j1ZCh1PBolqjPOoA/s/dark

To learn more about how you can document your special life moments by Jackee, visit her website at: http://www.jackeeausterman.com/

Pregnancy Journal: Week 31 & 32

It’s been a busy few weeks.  Biggest event that happened is my baby shower, which was absolutely perfect and I’ll save that for a post on its own. 

My sleeping has been pretty rough.  I tend to go 3 to 4 days of very little sleep, just uncomfortable and just in a total insomnia state where I’m wide awake.  Then I’ll sleep really well for a few nights in a row and it just kinda goes back and forth like this.  It’s frustrating but I guess the baby is getting me ready for sleepless nights already. 

Then I’m experiencing heartburn, acid reflex and indigestion really bad.  Especially at night, that is partly why my sleep is terrible.  I've never had heartburn before and it’s a miserable feeling.  I try to avoid certain foods for fear of getting heartburn but it seems like everything I eat gives it to me, even a fruit smoothie, weird huh!?!  What’s that old tale?  Something like heartburn means the baby has a lot of hair.  We’ll see about that. 

Speaking of hair… everyone thinks she will be a red head.  And she may very well be.  I have no problem with a little red head baby girl.  But let’s get real here… babies come out and they don’t look like anything other than a newborn.  I have no expectations and this baby looking like me or Aaron or the mail man.  I really think all babies look darn near the same until a few months when their physical characteristics start to pop.  As a friend shared a joke with me… newborns look like potatoes when they are born.  Ha, it’s kinda true though! Cute lil potaters they are though!    

We graduated from birthing classes this week.  We also took a child care class that was very beneficial.  We learned a lot. Pretty much every class there was something that made me excited and something that made me say oh crap, I can’t undo this now and I have to go thru this! Our teacher was so funny, she had a very dry sense of humor, the kind I don’t have but the kind I appreciate.  She would say things very monotone like, “if you do a hospital tour and you hear something that sounds like someone is pushing a large appliance, you probably are hearing someone in labor.”  And “try to focus on something enjoyable like the ocean, expect I myself don’t like the ocean.  Nor do I like flying; I try to think of flying as a high speed bus.  And the thought of being in space really makes me uneasy too.” She says these things so dryly that I just look at Aaron and we both chuckle to ourselves at how funny this lady was. 

We did a hospital tour and it really is starting to feel REAL.  I can now envision myself being there very soon.  It’s surreal.  It’s surreal to think life as we know it is about to change very very soon.  EEK!

My appointments are going great, getting really close to going weekly rather than biweekly.  Heart rate is good, I’m measuring right on point (and the best part is I haven’t gained any weight in 3 weeks but my belly is continuing to grow right on schedule, YES! Hoping I’m losing in my buns when I’m gaining in the tums!)  I thought I was done buying maternity clothes but my sweatpants are starting to become unbearable, I might have to breakdown and buy some maternity sweats.  They fit, I’m just sick and tired of pulling them up all the time.   And I think it’s time to give up the pre-maternity tanks for my maternity ones.  I look like a hot mess walking around the house in my sweats and regular tank with my belly literally hanging out the bottom.  I've gained 22 lbs altogether and I without a doubt feel 22 lbs heavier!  

I’m starting to regret taking these weekly pictures.  There will be no weekly pictures with baby #2 (given labor doesn't scare me out of wanting a baby #2).  Wednesday morning pictures are really starting to get old!  But now since I've started, I gotta finish them out. 

31 Weeks

32 Weeks

Pregnancy Journal: Weeks 29 & 30

Week 29:

This week killer back pain set in.  I think all the extra weight in the front is taking a toll on my lower back.  I have an awesome chiropractor and she has been seeing much more of me lately.  That helps.  As well as prenatal massages, I probably treat myself to far too many of them but why not?  Aaron is amazing!  He rubs my back, helps me off the couch, does everything I ask him.  Then he comes home and tells me he is treating me to a deluxe spa package, as if I don’t get enough massages and now he is treating me to a few extras this month.  I just love him to pieces!  Not only for that but all he does and helps me with… I just couldn't ask for a better husband and father-to-be! 

My nesting is still in full swing.  I had Aaron scrubbing the bathroom floors last week on his hands and knees.  We pulled every single item out of our kitchen cabinets, cleaned out the cabinets, reorganized, made space for baby bottles and I scrubbed the outside of all the cabinets.  We've been busy! I have a whole checklist of things that I want done before baby arrives.  Another reason why I love Aaron, he know my list is a little outlandish but he’s down on that floor scrubbing away because he knows it matters to me. 

Lately I’ve been feeling just so blessed with how everything is going.  No I don’t love being pregnant, yes I shouldn’t complain as much as I do about the minor aches and pains that come along with it but I’ve had a very healthy pregnancy so far.  I hear far too often friends or even strangers who don’t have healthy pregnancies and we had some friends recently who lost their baby not even a week after birth.  So sad, I couldn’t even imagine.  So I’m feeling blessed and give thanks to God for our healthy pregnancy.  I pray for our baby every night, prayers for a healthy girl, a healthy delivery, for our baby to be a child after God’s heart and for us to be the parents God wants us to be.  It’s a lot to live up to as parents to be the right role model and guide our daughter in the right path but those are my hopes and prayers and I feel pretty confident that with Aaron, we can do this! 

Week 30:

We started birthing classes this week.  Do I have a funny funny story for you!  So outside of class, Aaron and I were talking and I brought up something about being induced.  And he goes, so induced… that means when they give you a laxative, right?  I busted out laughing and then I realized he was serious!  I gave him the short answer that being induced is when they give you Pitocin to get your body to start into labor and he shrugs his shoulders and goes “same thing.”  Again, me busting out laughing.  Now if you ask him, he is going to deny that he was that clueless but I saw his face and the seriousness in his response, and he WAS serious my friends, he can deny it all he wants :)  I was surprised by the things he didn’t know from class.  But when I think about it, why would he know these things?  As a women I find this stuff interesting so I have baby magazines, books, I ask friend’s questions; he is totally supportive but it’s not like he’s reading up on it like I am so I can understand why he doesn’t know some of this so I think the class was highly educational for him especially.  And he seemed genuinely interested and paying close attention in the class too, it’s nice to see him not just going thru the motions.   

During class we practiced our breathing.  Not only did they have the mom-to-be’s breathing but they had the Dad’s practice too.  Thankfully Aaron isn’t having this baby because his breathing was terrible.  I go “why are you closing your eyes, you are supposed to be looking at the focal point!”  “Breath thru your nose and out your mouth, you aren’t breathing out your mouth!”  “Your ‘hoo-hoo-hees’ are backwards!”  “You aren’t hee’ing enough.”  Thankfully he is the coach and I’m the breather when it comes down to the real thing. 

One thing I did learn in the class was I shouldn’t go to the hospital unless I’m having 5-1-1.  That is contractions that are 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each and consistently for 1 hour.  Okay so that gives me time to get my hair done, a little make up put on and finish any last minute packing I have to do before I get to the hospital, good to know.  But really?  If I wouldn’t have known this rule, I would have freaked out at the first contraction and had Aaron speeding thru every stop light to get to the hospital.  So I know now, don’t freak out, stay home until I’m having 5-1-1.  We’ll see how long I make it before I say get me to the hospital pronto!

So I'm pretty excited about becoming an Amazon Mom.  So many great perks, I just know I'm going to love it, giving a shout out to my Texan fellow preggo friend Sarah from high school for filling me in on what I could have been missing!  Plus I basically took one of my registries and duplicated onto an Amazon registry, I found that Amazon has the exact same items for a lot cheaper!  For example, the pack and play, $40 cheaper on Amazon.  The high chair, $15 cheaper on Amazon.  Plus they offer a 15% completion and free shipping & returns so I figure why not replicate my registry and do my completion thru Amazon?  BuyBuyBaby was only going to give me 10% or 15% completion (I don't remember which it was) and I wouldn't get the completion coupon until after baby is born.  Well who has time to do a registry completion after the baby arrives?  Check out Amazon Mom folks, it's some pretty sweet discounts on diapers, wipes and household essentials, ships free to your house in 2 days.  I'm a sucker for convenience and deals!  Ya, I could get the same deals at Target with my nifty couponing skills but I'm not going to kid myself, I'm not going to have time to coupon once the baby arrives so might as well get the same hassle free price thru Amazon Mom.  Can't wait to sign up and give it a whirl!

Pregnancy Journal: Weeks 27 & 28

Week 27:

Whoohoo!  I’m SLEEPING!!  Well sleeping the majority of the night.  I decided the Snoogle just wasn’t cutting it so I built a pillow fortress around me, 8 pillows now in total including the Snoogle.  Aaron gets in bed and can’t even see the TV because I have so many pillows built up around me.  He asked if he should just sleep on the couch so I can be more comfortable.  Very sweet of him to ask but I need him as a ‘wall’ so my pillows don’t tumble out on his side.  

 

Week 28:

Back to sleeping good some nights and up tossing and turning other nights.  I knew it was too good to be true to continue sleeping all night long.  Since this has been going on for well over a month, it pretty much is starting to feel like my new ‘norm’ anyways. 

I’m in my 3^rd trimester (I KNOW! I can’t believe I’m in the homestretch!)  Yippee!!  Lots of mental self-pep talks going on, telling myself almost there… almost there… 2.5 more months… just get thru it!  I cannot wait to be un-pregnant.  

I had a first this week.  I’ve felt the baby move and kick for a while now but in the middle of the night, I felt a strong pressure in my tummy, I reached down and felt a large lump pushing to the outside of my tummy, felt like a huge tumor sticking out.  I freaked out and sat up in bed with my hand on this bulge and woke Aaron up and by the time he woke up, the bulge went away.  I must have had a hand or a foot in my hand for a good 5 second, it was literally bulging out of my body.  Since that night, I’m having it happen more often, not as intense as that first time but now I’m not as freaked out, I just lightly massage the bulge and whatever body part she’s pushing against my tummy and it goes back into place.  Now one told me this would happen… why haven’t all you moms told me this would happen?!?!!   A little pre-warning would have been nice so I could have avoided that full on panic mode.    

I also feel this week like my tummy is super tight, at times I feel like it’s going to rip open it’s so tight.  I’ve been up’ing my cocoa butter to at a minimum of twice a day as I’m really starting to fear getting stretch marks.  None yet and no signs of any that are starting to form but I look at my naked tummy in the mirror and think to myself where in the world is this baby going to grow to?!?!  I’m already vertically challenged and don’t have a lot of spare room to begin with!  Ugg, I’m going to be huge by the end of this, I already feel like a large marge carrying 20 lbs extra than I’m used to.   

Passed my glucose test.  Everyone told me the drink for the test is absolutely terrible.  I didn’t think it was that bad, until I got half the bottle down, then I was forcing the rest.  I took it like a champ, I knew it had to go down so I just threw it back as fast as I could.  The amount I had to drink was more than I was expecting.  I passed the test with flying colors, scoring a 96 (acceptable range is 65-140).  I figured I would pass it…  I don’t need any test to tell me that I have a high tolerance to sugar, I’m a sugar-holic, I already knew my body could handle massive amounts of sugar.  I celebrated completing the test by eating 2 grape laffy taffys.