35 weeks, and the fetus is still a fetus

Woo hoo!  I haven’t given birth yet – this is officially the most pregnant I have ever been. 

The baby moves position several times a day.  One minutes she’ll be head down in birthing position, then suddenly she’ll decide she wants to hang out by my ribs again.  My belly shape is constantly changing.  Tim and I get a big kick out of watching an elbow (or knee - who knows?) move from one side of my belly to the other.  I have decided that she is doing swimmer’s kick turns in my belly.  It’s the only explanation for the sudden and drastic changes in position.  We’ll have to take her to the pool when she’s done doing time in the womb and test out my theory. 

Squiggles is getting ready for the new baby.  She loves to lift up my shirt and say, “Hi, Baby Sister” in a high, sing-song voice.  It’s adorable.  But every time we see a cute toy or outfit in a store and I say, “Should we get this for Baby Sister?” she responds with, “No, mine!”   Ha ha… we’re in a for an adjustment period, I can tell already.

I have been feeling utterly exhausted the last couple days.  Yesterday I felt like I completely crashed, and today hasn’t been much better. I have a feeling my iron is really low again – I don’t seem to have enough energy to walk from room to room, and every time I sit down, stand up, or even sneeze or cough, I see stars and feel like I’m going to faint.  We got steaks for dinner and I’ve been popping iron pills, so hopefully things will improve.  We got gym memberships and I’m dying to go swimming.  I haven’t been for a couple weeks and I need to get back in the water – it feels so good to swim laps.

Also, it has been in the high nineties the last few days, with nearly 100% humidity.  This weather is a special kind of hell for this eight-months-pregnant gal.  :-)

But… it’s going to be over soon.  Can’t wait to meet this little kick-turning, sleep-stealing butterball baby.  I love her so much already, and I know it just gets amplified a thousand times after birth.

33 weeks

I went in for my 33 week checkup this week (the doctor wants to see me much more frequently now because I gave birth early with Squiggles).  Dr. MacKenzie often has medical students working with him, and this week, he had a new student:  a friend of mine from my PhD program (she recently finished and is back in medical school).  It was fun to have her be my “doctor” for the visit.

Everything looked great, except my fundal height was measuring bigger than expected.  Dr. MacKenzie had me go to the hospital the next day for some ultrasound scans just to make sure everything was okay. 

I haven’t spoken with the doctor yet, but I requested a copy of the scans to be put on a CD, and showed them to Tim when he got home.  He said everything was in a “normal” range. 

However… drumroll…

The baby is estimated to already be 6 pounds!  Ahhhhhh!!!!  I’m so glad she’s healthy, but I’m a little terrified to give birth now.  Squiggles was born at 34 weeks, and she was barely 5 pounds.  Most of the baby’s measurements were average for somebody who is about 36 weeks along (they print the averages on the scans).  This baby already weighs as much as Squiggles did when she was about 7 weeks old. :)  D’oh!  Long labor ahead.l  I’m a little relieved because if I give birth early again, at least the baby will be in good shape to start out in the world.

32.5 weeks

I can’t believe this pregnancy is mostly over. It seems like I’m going to pregnant forever and ever.  I sometimes have a hard time conceptualizing this baby ever being anywhere other than my belly (more specifically, sitting on top of my bladder).  I am so, so, so, so, so excited to actually hold this baby… in my ARMS.

Next week is the dreaded 34-week mark!  I am having a baby shower at 34 weeks, 2 days… exactly how far along I was when my water broke with Squiggles.  I’ll be happy when that day comes and goes… hopefully with only the baby shower to count as an exciting event.

I’m totally smitten with the baby already.  She sticks her bum against my abdomen right above my belly button, so I pat it and sing her songs.  This seems to encourage her, and she sticks her bum out even further. If I feel her back, I rub it, and she sticks it out further as though to say, “More, more!”   Maybe this baby will actually enjoy cuddling!

We have been going on walks to the pond almost every day, and I try to swim and lift weights at the gym a couple times a week.  I keep trying yoga, but I start having contractions whenever I try to do any core exercises / stretches (downward dog, plank, etc.). 

I am so uncomfortable in so many ways that I have stopped keeping track.  The other day, one of my professors (John) asked me why I was limping.  I honestly hadn’t really noticed.  I shrugged my shoulders, and he said, “Just another pregnancy thing?”  (He has two kids).  I said, ""Yeah, I guess.” 

My uterus is taking up the spaces formerly reserved for not only my bladder, but also my diaphragm, stomach, ovaries, intestines, and probably lungs.   I have to pee every hour, preferably every half hour, and I’m constantly wheezing because I can’t catch my breath.

But I know it is all worth it.  Like I said, I can’t wait to meet this baby.  I’m so excited I could pee my pants.  Literally.

31 weeks

I had a checkup Thursday, and everything looks good.  My cervix is partially effaced, but not dilated at all.  Phew!

The baby is extremely active right now – I feel her off and on all day, and if I had to guess, I’d say she turns herself around and upside down approximately 6 times a day.  That’s probably not possible, but that’s what it feels like.  Her movements are visible on the outside, and it always makes me laugh to see my belly change shape or get jabbed outward.

I’m starting to get a bit nervous about labor and childbirth, I guess because I’ve never given birth to a full-sized baby.  My birth “team” is going to consist of Tim and Cami… Cami is the designated photographer. I’d invite Lance, but he’ll still be in Utah.  At Mount Auburn Hospital, they will only let me have three people present, so it can’t be another party (Tim, Cami, Karen, my mom, and my dad) like when Squiggles was born.  That was a lot of fun – seriously.

I’m still pretty puffy… hoping to shed some water weight before it gets super hot. We are moving in a couple weeks, so things are going to get really busy.  And... unfortunately, the morning sickness seems to be back.  Not as bad as weeks 8-16, but ... ughhh.  The last few days have been a bit of a struggle.  Oh well.. only 8 more weeks!  Wahoooo!  I'm so excited to kiss this baby's face off.

30-week scare–beware the mango!

My PhD advisor saw me recently eating a bowl of fresh pineapple.  She said, “Laura, didn’t you know that pineapple can cause contractions?”   Since I wasn’t having any contractions, I laughed and blew it off as an old-wives’ tale.  I did do some Googling, and read that mango and kiwi contain the same (possible) labor-inducing enzyme as pineapple.  I love all three fruits, so I decided it was wisdom worthy of completely ignoring.

Incident one:  I bought and ate a fresh mango one afternoon.  That night as I was trying to sleep, I was awoken several times by extremely painful cramping ten to twenty minutes apart.  I asked Tim for a glass of water, and things settled down.

Incident two:  I ate some delicious mango sorbet at an ice cream shop.  Repeat Incident one experience with nighttime contractions / cramping.

Incident three:  Yesterday I drank and Odwalla mango smoothie.  Last night, I could barely sleep because I kept having contractions, and was awake from 1:00 – 4:00 am with very painful cramping / contractions that were two to three minutes apart.  Drinking water didn’t help at all, and I was already resting.  I was terrified that I was going into labor, and I think Tim was too.  It’s just too soon!  I drank three glasses of water, did laps between my living room and kitchen, and finally fell asleep in the rocking chair in Squiggles’ room.  I slept for a couple hours, and awoke to contractions again, but much less painful than before. I  went back to our bedroom and slept for another couple hours, and woke up with only minor Braxton Hicks contractions.  Phew!!!   I had spent the night before trying to come up with a plan for caring for a premature baby in the NICU, taking care of Squiggles, and finishing my PhD.  I hadn’t actually come up with any viable ideas, so hopefully I can keep this baby in for another couple months. :)

Needless to say, old-wives’ tale or not, I’ll be staying away from mangoes.  Until week 40, at which point there will be mango mania!

30 weeks

Good news – I passed my glucose tolerance test yesterday!  Which means I can now feel free to consume 100 grams of sugar in five minutes on a regular basis, I guess.  (Just kidding – I’m still not over the sugar assault.)

This morning I had a prenatal appointment with Dr. MacKenzie.  It was just a short appointment – he wants to see me every couple weeks now that my due date is getting closer.  The heartbeat sounded great.  I told the doctor that I was feeling quite a bit of pressure on my pelvic floor, so he felt around and confirmed that the baby has dropped and is hanging out down south.  I’m pretty sure she’s jumping on  my bladder most of the time (with her head, I guess).  I have to pee approximately every 15 minutes.  For reals.

I’m pretty convinced that this baby is going to come early (wishful thinking?)– maybe a month or so early.  Tim is pretty convinced that I’m going to go full term (definitely wishful thinking) and has informed me that there will not be a third offspring if I don’t comply.  I asked him how (specifically) I should go about complying with his wish, and he said, “Just think positive.”  Ha ha, he’s such an expert on that sort of thing.

Last night when Tim was putting Squiggles to bed, he asked her what we should name the baby.  She said, “Pretty Piggy” at first, but when Tim asked about Lillian, she said, “Uh HUH!”  He asked her what the middle name should be, and she said, “Head Toes.”  Sounds good.  He then asked her if we should name the baby “Susannah,” and she said, “Oh yay!  Sue-Nana!  Sue-Nana!  Sue-Nana!”  I guess she likes that one even better.

29.5 weeks

The baby is moving around a lot lately.  She doesn’t seem to sleep much, actually.  Hopefully this isn’t an omen of things to come.  She (like her sister, when she was in utero) rearranges herself every time I change position.  I have really enjoyed watching my abdomen lately – I can see elbows and feet and hands pushing and stretching all the time.  I like to think she’s doing yoga.

I’ve been having dreams that the baby is born early (like her sister was). Last night I dreamed the baby was born, and I gave it to my mom to take care of because what I really needed to do was go hiking and get some exercise. As I was hiking along, I realized that I had forgotten to send a picture of the baby to my department, so I texted my mom and asked her to take a picture of the baby and send it to me. Oh dear… hopefully I’ll be a slightly more responsible mother in real life.  But then suddenly in my dream I started sobbing because I missed being pregnant… then I knew I was dreaming.

I had a prenatal appointment a couple weeks ago. I had to take my glucose tolerance screen… and I failed it.  I only failed by a few points, but I have to take the 3-hour fasting test on Wednesday. I guess I shouldn’t have eaten a cookie and cupcake from Flour on the way to my appointment (d’oh!).   I’m pretty sure I’m not diabetic, but I’m not looking forward to drinking that syrup again – disgusting!  And I have to have my blood drawn at least 3 times – I’m not so much a fan of needles.

I also found out that I was quite anemic.  I told Tim the day before the test that I thought I was anemic – I felt like I was on the verge of  fainting almost constantly for a couple days and had less energy than I’ve ever had in my life.  A couple weeks ago, I got lost three time on my commute. Once I ended up in Concord, once somewhere on the Middlesex Turnpike, and once I ended up heading west on the Mass Pike heading toward Framingham. I felt like I couldn’t concentrate for the life of me. One afternoon, I texted Tim and told him I thought he’d better drive me home that day – I didn’t feel safe behind the wheel. It was a very strange feeling – usually my iron levels are great.  I bought some “gentle” iron, and I’ve been feeling MUCH better the last few days.   I guess I should have been taking my prenatal vitamins (d’oh!).

The third piece of disturbing information was that I gained 16 pounds in 14 days.  It was almost all water – I could see it and feel it in my face, neck, arms, and legs.  Very disturbing.  My doctor thought it was probably because I had severe allergies at the time (blood vessels get much leakier during times of histamine).  I think he was right – I’ve gotten rid of a lot of the fluid during the last few days (which corresponds to my allergies lessening significantly).

During my last appointment, they did an ultrasound because I thought maybe I had leaked some amniotic fluid (I won’t go into details).  Everything looked good (lots of fluid pockets), and the baby looked great.  She did look like she had a large head (d’oh!).

I have another prenatal appointment this Thursday, so hopefully I’ll have good news.