Eviction Notice Served

38 weeks 4 days along and home from the doctor.

Today was a double dose of appointments

1st- NST. BP was a little high 118/78. Baby basically failed, but then passed. It took 3 buzzers and her shaking my belly like a person trying to get their chips to fall in a vending machine to wake the little one up enough to make the heartrate accelerate. I honestly think I almost would have been more comfortable 'failing' the NST and having the Biophyisical Profile Ultrasound I am am having 'passed' the NST after resorting to those methods. But when I asked if it was valid the nurse just said, we can do a lot to make it happen- but the heartrate response is all baby, it happened after the fact, so yup it is. (she was really nice about it and all it was weird)

2nd- OB appt. BP was even hight (130/80). That doesn't concern me too much compared to the other reading since I walked about 7 blocks from one appt to the other and was seen quickly, plus it is always higher at the OB. Weight was +4 (Eek, it has only been 6 days). They didn't seem concerned and at this point I don't even care. That 4 lbs could be humidity, the need to poop, my outfit, the time of day, and baby growing all at once.

My Very First Internal. I didn't know what to expect- basically it was like a pap, but without tools and a lot of pressure. She just got all up in there with her fingers. It was a bit uncomfortable and lasted all of about 20 seconds.

Status: Dilation: NONE (boo)
Cervical Ripening: Cervix is soft and forward (this is good)
Effacement: 50% (basically thinning of the cervix. It is usually about 4 cm thick, needs to flatten like a pancake and dilate)



Station: -2 (baby's head is engaged) (basically means how far into the pelvis the baby is. +5 means crowning))



What does this mean?
Nothing. She said I could need to be induced after my due date or I could be in active labor in 3 hours- that this really tells us nothing. She also told me not to be too down about the dilation part b/c 1st time moms usually dilate late or last, so that for a 1st timer that is a decent amount of progress. So why on earth do they do it? Beats me, but I guess so that hopefully at my appt next week they can tell me new numbers that make it sound like progress is happening.

I am having a baby THIS MONTH!!!!

aghhh
Not that I expected to go 2 weeks early and have a May baby, but I knew it was possible- so now I can officially say I am having a Junebug. My baby will have a birthstone of Pearl with the gemstone Alexandrite (which is quite pretty and I am glad there is an alternate b/c some day after we are done having kids, I would like a mother's ring and Pearl just doesn't go with other stones all that well).

SOOOO EXCITING


Not much to report over here. My Dr does not check progress until 39 weeks (hopefully that means Wednesday at 38 weeks 4 days instead of waiting until next week when I am past the 39 week point). So I have no idea where we stand as far as what's going on. I have been having random contractions (Braxton Hicks) to which Eric looks a little freaked out every time I wince- but those are few and far between, nothing to read anything into (although they are happening more frequently every day)

The weekend was quiet- we stayed in Friday and hung out, Saturday we met with the doula, and Sunday my parents came down. The doula meeting was good- she gave us some reading material and homework to do. Some of the homework is funny- things like holding onto a piece of ice for a minute, eric pulling my hair continuously for a minute, or clothespinning our upper ears for a minute. We are not allowed to watch the clock while doing these things. They are supposed to help prepare us mentally for labor (as in learn how you mentally process the annoyance). Granted I think physically it is a far shot.
She also recommended I come up with a "Birth Project". Something to do at home while in early labor to help distract me and pass time by. She says it should be something I enjoy doing, and that I don't mind if I don't get done that day- it is seriously for distraction purposes. I have over 200 pictures uploaded to shutterfly right now of this pregnancy. Belly shots, shower pics, telling the family, nursery progress, etc. I think my birth project will be to sort through and pick the Pics I actually like and want to use, and start to build a pregnancy photobook to get printed. It is something I planned on doing and that will be great to do, and alright if delayed.

Mom, Dad & Griff (baby bro) came down today. Helped out with some house stuff (thanks Dad!) and we had a good lunch at Cuba Libre--> great restaurant. Eric and Griff finished it off by getting 32oz layered banana split sundays. I think they both made themselves a little sick in their juvenile attempt to eat it. Griff is 16- typical 16 yr old boy behavior. Eric is 33, typical 16 year old boy behavior :).

Here are a couple shots of this week- I will try to get a better belly shot tomorrow or so. I think I look like I dropped a bit- belly doesn't seem as big up top, but lower and a little more spread out.

Productivity

The past couple of days have been pretty productive. I may have to blame it on the insomnia that prevents the 'procrastination by sleep' act that I have mastered in the past.

I have lots of baby updates
1) Carseat is inspected and installed. Dumbass me now wants to go back and redo it because I don't like that it is in the middle. He said the middle is the safest, so I went with it. But now I am hating it because the handle comes up between the driver and passenger seat. Also, my car is a Prius- It is small. With the seat in the middle there is no room for anything back there. If we want to go spend a night at my parents or something, one of us could barely sit comfortably next to it, plus with the pack n play and stroller in the trunk, where would we put the bassinet or suitcase or whatever. It just makes it so there is NO ROOM at all. Plus, I can't imagine once the kid gets heavier the pain of trying to click the seat in and out in the middle.
I am going to leave it for now because of the safety- but the other dumb thing is my car has the LATCH system, which I can't use in the middle, only the sides, so I don't even know.

2) Had a prenatal massage today. Eric gave me a gift cert at my shower. I had not used it prior since we did the mother's day spa thing together- so that was GLORIOUS

3) Dr's Appt today. my GBS test came back negative so I don't have to have antibiotics during delivery- YAY (this makes me happy because I won't be tethered to an IV). Blood Pressure- once again normal 120/60. WTF is up with me being high risk/ high blood pressure- seriously... Weight gain from last time was 0- YAY because last appt I was +4 so that evens it out a bit. Total weight gain is 16 lbs. Dr said the heartrate 'sounded like a boy' which is so not cool of him to say, cause how do I know it doesn't say boy on a chart somewhere, and that is not very medical of him, and now I wonder if he knows and spilled or what.

4) Bought a waterproof mattress pad- (Dr's suggestion and I thought a good one) I would rather protect our mattress in the event of my water breaking then have to deal with the cleanup after of a soaked mattress.

5) Doula is hired- she was really nice and I am looking forward to having someone who knows what they are doing along to help. Eric was adorable, I asked him what he envisioned his role to be in birth and his response- "My job is to not be stupid" LOL. I love it. He was also adorable telling a 5 yr old cousin of his of some sort where his baby was (pointing at me) after she showed him her baby doll. I think my heart melted a bit.

6) Hands free nursing bras may be the funniest thing I have ever seen. They just have nipple holes. You could make an analogy- hands free nursing bras is to pasties, like donuts are to munchkins. I also got a few nursing tops and such from Old Navy and Destination Maternity.

7) Packages came in the mail today with the shirt below (which I will give to Eric to wear at the hospital as a surprise). I know if I show it to him now he will think I am crazy cheesy, but I also know that in the moment he will love it :). His diaperdude diaper bag also arrived ( but that is being hidden away until father's day).


Things to stop procrastinating about
Packing the Hospital Bag! (although to be fair I do have a long list, and I have things put aside, I just have yet to actually dig up a suitcase and eliminate. I have a severe overpacking issue- and right now I have too much. If I do go into labor, it would not take long to throw a bag together, however I should just get it done).

MUSIC. I think I am going to burn cd's and bring a cd player for the hospital. I hate earphones and can't imagine listening to it. I was going to buy an ipod dock, however don't want to drop huge money now, and don't want to waste money on a cheap one. I should ask Eric his opinion

Cleaning out drawers. The house is clean, it is in good shape for baby and company. But one of my goals in this prebaby time off was to clean out and reorganize drawers. I have a lot to get rid of (think makeup drawers, picture drawers, pajama drawers of which are probably torn up old stuff from college as well as recent stuff). This is not a huge deal though if I don't get done.

Nice Long Weekend...

37 week belly: (I think it is amazing that at my appt my fundal height was measuring 4 weeks ahead- I guess it is all about height not size and I am carrying high)





I think Ming is going to miss the Belly. She is one of those dogs that loves to prop her head up on something- lately it has been me :)

My view of ming from above




Eric's view of the dog from the side



Our weekend was so relaxing and enjoyable- it was great to have no major plans and spend time just the two of us.
We did go to E's family shore house for the day on Sunday- I got some color, we hung out on the deck, and really did not do much of anything. We had a couple nice dinners out, and on Monday went to PCC with E's family for their memorial day picnic event with the nephews.

Eric actually rode the bull- it was kind of hilarious. I think these pictures spanned a time of about 3 seconds.

FULL TERM!!! & Growth Scan

37 weeks along- that is full term! That means this turkey is cooked and it is now a matter of waiting- but the baby is fully developed and ready to live in the outside world. Crazy! No pictures of me for now- we'll get a picture or two this weekend. I don't know what we are doing yet, but hopefully something fun.

Today we had what is probably our final ultrasound to check baby's growth. Baby looked 'perfect' in the words of the doctor. Measured in at 55% (which is good, my dr. said she loves babies right in that 50% range because that means they are growing well, but of a nice, safe, deliverable size). The estimated weight as of today was 7 lbs even. Bad news is they can be off by as much as a pound in either direction, plus we still have 3-4 weeks to go, but the dr. said this was a perfect measurement for where we are now, so I am going with it. I should be done with u/s's unless lester keeps failing my NSTs. (by the way, my BP on Monday was 110/70, today was 120/72, but yeah- apparently I have chronic hypertension). Today we almost failed the NST- but because instead of sleeping too much, the kid was crazy and wouldn't stay on the monitor. I had to hold the monitor myself and we passed- but since the growth u/s was scheduled anyway they did the whole BPP scan as well. I liked our u/s tech b/c she actually described what she was looking for (breathing motions and such).

Here are a few pictures from our ultrasound

First- profile shot, you can see the bright white in the middle is the nose sticking up. Mouth is to the left, and you can see the nose curve into the forehead on the right.

Second- Creepy skeletor shot- face front, it is a little weird, but hey it's our kid so we think it's cute. You can just smile and nod :)

36 weeks & Birth Class!

WOW- 36 weeks along :) I guess that means when people ask how far I am the answer is 9 months pregnant- sheesh it is coming up. My sister gave me an electronic countdown clock and right now it says 26 days to go- CRAZY and a bit scary.

Here is a picture of us from last night- heading out to celebrate our friend Paul's birthday (and Eric heading out for a few much needed cocktails after 7 hours of birth class at the hospital).





THANK YOU AUNTIE ALI!!!
for our new pack n play... We also got a Pottery Barn "anywhere chair" to match the navy couches in the living room/family room area. The house is slowly filling up with baby stuff- but I think it looks pretty nice and I was really happy that we had somewhere to fit it without making the room feel horribly crowded.


BIRTH CLASS- was long, but interesting. We got to tour the hospital which was great, now we know where to go and what the situation is. I think we may look into hiring a doula for the day of, but we will see. We saw videos, did some exercises, and were able to ask any questions we had Eric's most important question- that he made me ask because he said it was more 'sensitive' coming from me- YES, all the rooms are WIFI equipped.
Eric did as well as can be expected during class- he watched, he learned- and he drew me this fabulous picture after seeing what a women's insides look like at 7 months vs. 9 months pregnant. (The purpose of the pictures was to help the men understand why we have heartburn, always have to pee, have fluctuating appetite, etc).
Picture 1 is 7 months pregnant (our baby was still breech at that point)- picture 2 is supposed to be me at 9 months pregnant, showing our big headed child (just like it's daddy), head down, and if you are wondering what is wrong with my belly- Eric believes there is still a chance my belly button will pop out. I saved this picture because I found it amusing.

So touched...

Today begins my maternity leave!!!
It was my last day of school- and I cannot believe how sweet my students were. I teach a group of kids who are great, it is not a high wealth area at all- but they went all out for me.

No joke- I walked into my room and there had to be 30+ balloons blown up all over the place- all pink and blue of course. Several kids baked cakes, brought in chips, made homemade tostadas and set up the fixings to make their own. They forgot nothing- soda, cups, plates, sourcream. All day long I had treats brought to me with each of my different classes.

As if that was not enough, the KIDS bought me gifts-. here is a picture of all the goodies I came home with. Even the big plant in the gorgeous ceramic planter is from one of my male students who works at a nursery. They were so sweet!