Final Countdown

Well, we're at 39 weeks, and counting down. I could do without this week. Everything hurts and I'm as big as a house. I'm actually fantasizing about being able to workout again. My hips hurt all the time, my groin muscles are sore because she's sitting on them, my stomach skin is stretched out and itchy, I'm tired and sleeping until noon every day, my back hurts, and I can't sit forward. Gah. I am well aware that this week is going to fly by, and that even the few days she might be late will go by all too quickly and I'll be missing these days of having my life all to myself, so I'm going to complain about these silly things now while I still can!

Here's the BabyCenter info and picture. At our appointment on Monday, she was about 6 lbs 12 oz, so the sooner she gets here the better, as far as I'm concerned -- I don't want her getting any fatter, hehe!

 Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Synchronize Your Watches

Well, here we are at 35 weeks, and I'm starting to get information on how to know if I'm in labor and what will happen during delivery. This baby is getting bigger and heavier every day, I have to pee about twenty times a day, and I'm having just a slight bit of good ol' nausea again in the mornings, though not nearly to the debilitating level it was before.

First, here's the update from BabyCenter about how big this baby is:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

I don't know who they modeled that drawing after, but my belly is way bigger. 

I discovered on Monday morning that red meat does not agree with my system anymore. After having to stay home sick because I had been up in the middle of the night throwing up, and was just too exhausted to do anything but sleep until 11am and then lay on the couch feeling gross, Shawn and I decided that it must be the beef. I'd had some yummy steak the night before, and it seems like every time I have red meat my body reacts that way. Mom said she had to avoid it as well. Makes me sad. I hope it goes away.

While I'm not yet "sick of being pregnant," I am getting restless to have her here. So I guess in that sense I'm tired of being pregnant -- I just want to meet her. The anticipation is getting to me. After next weekend's shower I can start setting up an actual nursery -- I'll have my changing table back, and it looks like some more furniture and stuff as well. If we don't get our dresser, I have a $50 Ikea gift card that I'll use towards getting the one I want.

When I flipped the calendar over to March yesterday morning, I had a very surreal moment of, oh, that's it -- just one month left, and there it is, in visual aid, only those days I can see right now, right in front of me, that's all the time I have left. Start the countdown.

33 Weeks and a Babymoon

Well, here we are at 33 weeks. My goodness. Baby is moving and shaking all day, and no longer in a cute way, but in a painful, those-are-my-ribs kind of way. I have to pee all the time, so this car trip down to San Clemente to visit the Godmama of Excitement is going to be an interesting ride, haha.

First, here's the info from BabyCenter for this week:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

 Let's back up a bit, shall we?

My first baby shower was on the 12th, and it was fabulous. Gramma D and Auntie Nicole did a crazy good job of making the house into a purple flower wonderland. There was tons of delicious food and giant cupcakes, and I went home with a carful of clothes, diapees and wipees, my bedding set, and a bunch of other baby goodies. Now I just need somewhere to put it all. And I must remember to do my thank you notes next week.

Then, I found out later that night that Miss Lila Jane finally had her baby girl, Ava Elise, at 8lbs 8oz. Everyone is home now and doing well, and hopefully next week I will get a chance to get out to see them.

Went in to see Dr. Hayes on Monday, Valentine's Day, and all was well. We met with the postpartum counseling lady, who went over some basic questions with me, gave me some info on what PPD looks like and so on, and her card, in case we should need to talk to her later. She was very nice.

Dr. Hayes seems less worried about my increasing girth than I do, so perhaps it is all in my head. She measured my stomach and was pleased, and we listened to Vyla's heartbeat again. At first the doppler wand was right on top of her, but then she scuttled away and hid somewhere, and it took a minute to find her again. But, you know, there are only so many places you can go inside a uterus, so we eventually found her and got a solid 10 second listen to her heartbeat, which is still strong and fast.

My next appointment was scheduled for two weeks later, on March 7th, after which I will start coming in about once a week and they will start checking me for all kinds of different things, and, I imagine, doing at least one more ultrasound to figure out how she's laying in there.

This weekend, Shawn and I are driving to San Clemente to visit Aunt Margaret, or the Godmama of Excitement, as Shawn christened her when he was a kid. She calls him Shawniecakes. I think that's awesome. It's raining and poopy outside, but we have the Jeep, so I'm confident. It will be fun to see the place where I plan to get married next year, and to take one last trip just the two of us. Of course, once she's here we'll have all kinds of fun family trips that we can take, but the nostalgia of having a trip, as a couple without cares, for the last time, is nice. I must admit, there is a part of me that sometimes wishes we had held off on this surprise for a time. I've never been sad about this pregnancy, nor am I now, but every now and then I think about all the things I would have liked to have done as a carefree couple that we sort of skipped over, and it does make me a bit low -- for example, even though I love the idea of having my baby be a part of my wedding, and I think it will be so much more special with her as a part of it, I still sometimes think about having been able to have my wedding first, and then moving into having a baby.

But then, I don't plan to stop being fabulous just because I become a mother, so really, what is all this worry for? In fact, I will be extra fabulous, because I will be Fabulous Me + Adorable Baby + Super Hot Husband. So really, all the more to admire. ;)

32 Weeks

As I wait patiently for Lila to go into labor, so that I can dash to the hospital and help her welcome her little one, the first in the group of 2011 Babies, I'm getting ever closer to my own due date. It's been such an annoyance to me this whole time to have my official due date be on a Wednesday, despite the fact that, according to the measurements on the ultrasound, it should be on a Friday. I hate that kind of disparity! It's not at all neat and tidy and it means I can't ever feel confident in saying today is my X Week! Although, I've pretty much been going with Friday, cause it's tidier than Wednesday. So, in anticipation of tomorrow being Week 32, below is the latest news from inside my stomach, courtesy of BabyCenter.com.

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Apparently, 32 weeks means I have 56 days left to go. Wow, counting down in days now? That's a little too real for me. It's already coming way too soon, what with Lila about to pop and all, the shower this weekend, and all manner of other real stuff happening.

Also, I'm excited that baby is going to be a hare, that is, born in the Year of the Rabbit. Apparently, rabbits are good with money, creative and sensitive, and remind me a lot of Pisces. Which is good, because she'll need some of that to balance out her Aries nature. Shawn, as a Gemini, will get along well with the Aries baby, as they're both prone to being crazy and having lots of energy. I'll be there when it's time to relax.

This belly of mine is getting increasingly large. It's sort of hard to image that it has 8 more weeks to grow. Like, where is it going to go? So far, ***FINGERS CROSSED*** no stretch marks have shown their ugly faces. I'm going to redouble my Palmer's Lotion efforts, just in case.

New Development Info

Good morning, all. Just a quick dip into the blogosphere to share the baby updates that came from various reliable sources this morning. I'm coming up on 27 weeks, so here's the important info, first from BabyCenter, and then from Kaiser:

  This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

This info from Kaiser is a little bit early, as, according to them, I won't be entering my third trimester until next week. But it's still some good info about what to expect. So if I start complaining about any of these things, you've been forewarned:

Your Third Trimester

The third trimester of pregnancy spans from week 28 to the birth. Although your due date marks the end of your 40th week, a full-term pregnancy can deliver between the 37th and 42nd weeks of pregnancy. During this final trimester, your fetus grows larger and the body organs mature. The fetus moves frequently, especially between the 27th and 32nd weeks.

In the final 2 months of pregnancy, a fetus becomes too big to move around easily inside the uterus and may seem to move less. At the end of the third trimester, a fetus usually settles into a head-down position in the uterus. You will likely feel some discomfort as you get close to delivery.

See pictures of the fetus at 32 and 40 weeks of development .

Normal symptoms you may experience during the third trimester of pregnancy include:

• Braxton Hicks contractions, which are "warm-up" contractions that do not thin and open the cervix (do not lead to labor).
• Fatigue.
• Back pain.
• Pelvic ache and hip pain.
• Hemorrhoids and constipation.
• Heartburn (a symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD).
• Hand pain, numbness, or weakness (carpal tunnel syndrome).
• Breathing difficulty, since your uterus is now just below your rib cage, and your lungs have less room to expand.
• Mild swelling of your feet and ankles (edema). Pregnancy causes more fluid to build up in your body. This, plus the extra pressure that your uterus places on your legs, can lead to swelling in your feet and ankles.
• Difficulty sleeping and finding a comfortable position. Lying on your back interferes with blood circulation, and lying on your stomach isn't possible. Sleep on your side, using pillows to support your belly and between your knees. Later in your pregnancy, it is best to lie on your left side. When you lie on your right side or on your back, the increasing weight of your uterus can partly block the large blood vessel in front of your backbone.
• Frequent urination, caused by your enlarged uterus and the pressure of the fetus's head on your bladder.

Signs that labor is not far off include the following:

• The fetus settles into your pelvis. Although this is called dropping, or lightening, you may not feel it.
• Your cervix begins to thin and open (cervical effacement and dilatation). Your health professional checks for this during your prenatal exams.
• Braxton Hicks contractions become more frequent and stronger, perhaps a little painful. You may also feel cramping in the groin or rectum or a persistent ache low in your back.
• Your "water" may break (rupture of the membranes). In most cases, rupture of the membranes occurs after labor has already started. In some women, this happens before labor starts. Call your health professional immediately or go to the hospital if you think your membranes have ruptured. 

Finally, I'm going to try to cut out as much sugar from my diet as possible. One day at a time of course, but I'm pretty sure I consume too much of it, so any little bit less is a good thing.

26 Weeks

I'm caving to the pressure of my original due date and going with Wednesdays instead of Fridays as my week markers. So today is 26 weeks, and below is the info from BabyCenter about what's going on in there:

   The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. 

Baby:

 Cucumber:

 Yesterday I went to Motherhood and bought a sackful of new maternity clothes. I love post-Christmas sales! I got three new pairs of pants, a dress, and 2 or 3 new tops, all for under $200. Plus a coupon for later and a restaurant gift card or something. So I sort of cleaned up! It's so nice to be wearing things that fit now. My pants were just getting way too tight. I feel stylish and cute again, and, especially with my newly done nails, I feel much better about myself, and that's way more important right now than I had realized.

Which reminds me, I'm finally going to the gym tonight. Brought a packed bag to work and all. No excuses, now.

Belly Pop Pictures

I have been terribly remiss it posting to the blog, and I have a bunch of things to update on, but the notebook with all those notes is in the car, and that's not at home right now. So I'll make do with updating photos and inserting some info on week 24, which is where we've progressed to by now. 


First, from BabyCenter:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.


***
She certainly is kicking like a little demon. I can feel her more and more during the day now, and this morning it actually hurt when she kicked/punched me in the side while I was trying to sleep in. Here are some more pictures of the belly:

The top one is 22 weeks, and the bottom is 23 weeks. As you can see, it really popped out in a week. 24 week picture will be coming in a couple of days.

Myself Again Today

18w5d

My weekly email from the Baby Center website contained the following update:

Hello, Katie!
Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. The hair on her scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Don't be fooled by the use of gender in their email, they alternate every week. I haven't plugged in any information to the website that I'm not sharing with you! I get those updates every week, in theory on my weekly markers, but the dates I first put in were a little off. So it thinks I'm at 19 weeks, but I know that's not until Friday. Fridays are my week markers. I suppose at some point I could start thinking in terms of months, but weeks are easier to keep track of. Pic of baby at it's true age, 18w5d:

I'll post the 19 weeks image on Friday.

Some news this morning -- I am finally feeling like myself again. Though I had a moment or two of tummy-turning this morning, that was more due to being hungry than being nauseous. I was tired when I woke up, but not bone-tired. It seems I'm finally getting used to sleeping on my side because my hips didn't bother me all night, until about 6am, when the cats were waking me up anyway. So I was rested and able to get up in time to make toast, feed cats, dress, email myself something that I needed at work today, put make-up on, AND leave the house on time. Of course, my hair is still a disaster, but that's not really anything new.

Also, I made contact with a gal from Bananas, Inc., last night, which is a daycare referral service in the East Bay. She's going to be sending me some info on in-home day cares in Alameda. I'm really more comfortable with in-home care rather than a Montessori or something like that. My next step is to start checking out pediatricians.