Week 39

It's here: week 39, one more week to go before I'm considered full-term!

     Things have pretty much been the same for the last several weeks, months, pretty much the whole entire pregnancy has been smooth sailing, so most of these posts are ending up the same. But, that's okay; Abby can look back and see that she treated me well for 9 months, and I love her for it! G says that I just must be made to have babies! ahha! I guess so; and since we have 12 more to go after this, it's good to know that pregnancy is a breeze for me... at least this one has been!

     This week I have worked on a few more things for Abby. I would like to attribute it to Nesting, however, it really just had to do with the fact that we had people coming to stay this week, and I needed to clean the place up, and therefore things got done by default! I cleaned the whole house, not deep cleaned, but I was able to organize things, and find places for things that didn't have one. Just cleaned up clutter basically. And as I look around the house right now, now that our guests have all gone, the clutter is starting to build up already, yah! I touched up some of the stripes in Abby's room, which really excites me! It looks so much better; it's not perfect, but upon glancing it just looks so much cleaner. I vacuumed the whole house, threw bags and bags of garbage out, cleaned and swept floors, dusted a bit, did SO many dishes, got a section in our room cleared out and put the bassinet in it's place, and most fun: I finally began making her mobile, which I'm really excited about. I got half of it done, I just need to finish the other half, and I can put it up in the room. I will be posting a DIY with pictures of how I made it, coming soon!

What the Nurse had to say:
     Yesterday at my appt, I had another exam... which I was unaware would be occurring, therefore, I was none-so-pleased! I don't like them at all! They hurt something fierce! Anywho, my blood pressure and urine looked good. I didn't gain any weight, same as last week; so that's still a total weight gain of 17 pounds. My measurement went down from 37 to 35; meaning that Abby has dropped even more! Which explains the leg cramps I've been getting this week. Thankfully they're not really bad at all. However, upon the exam, she said that she still could not find the cervix (part of this having to do with the fact that I couldn't relax enough, and that maybe if I had been able to, she could have found it); so it's still firm and not dropped yet.
     She is going to be out of town next week, so my appt with be with a different doctor (which is fine with me: the more I get to meet the better since I have no clue which doctor will be on call when I go into delivery). Since next week I'll be considered full-term, my appt.s will continue to be with the doctors from that point on. Which means, that at the next week's appt, if I have still not progressed, they will schedule an induction for that Monday the 27th (41 weeks and 3 days). Although that's only 9 days past my due date, and my doctor originally told me they won't induce until day 11, which is Wednesday the 29th. I'm really really hoping that it won't come to that. Once they start the induction process (usually pitocin), it's pretty inevitable that you'll require an epidural, and then the whole snowball effect begins, of which I am desperately trying to avoid. Everything has gone so smoothly up until this point, I want it to continue that way! I'd really love to get the delivery experience I want; I know there's a chance I might not get it, I'm not delusional, but I'd rather have it ruined with an induction. I'd rather it be necessary to get intervention b/c something is really wrong, not just b/c the baby isn't coming out when they'd like it to.

Me:
     Again, this week has been pretty similar to all other weeks.

• I have had a few leg cramps this week. I did have a menstrual cramp this week, which I thought odd. Then upon reading one of my books, it mentioned that getting menstrual cramps could be a sign of pre-labor, so who knows! I have had a few other signs as well, but who really knows if they can be attributed to pre-labor, or some other things. I don't know, so I'm not putting too much thought into it, just found it interesting. 
• I'm still sleeping through the night just fine, getting up about once to go to the bathroom.
• My back hasn't been hurting at all, though people have been shocked to hear this upon asking. 
• The pain in my chest above my belly has sort of gone away this week, which has been lovely!
• My feet have taken a turn for swollen this week... a bit more than normal... need to start guzzling the water again. Although, my wedding ring is still fitting! Points!
• Not that this has anything to do with being pregnant, but I got a mosquito bite on my arm that I noticed yesterday, and it's driving me completely insane! I want to itch it like crazy!
• I'm pretty much hot, constantly! It never happens that I am hotter than G, but this week I've needed the fan on, and he finds it to be too cold, which is completely outrageous, usually it's the other way around.
• I still have to pee every half hour or so, which is why it flabbergasts me that I only get up once during the night to pee. 
• I still feel pretty great, have a goodly portion of energy at times, and feel really tired at others, pretty much to be expected at this stage I guess. 

Here's a picture of my Uncle John and I: he came to visit this week! 

Progress:

Sorry about the weird yellow-tint of the one picture, G held the camera at a different angle.

Week 34 and 35

     Things have been super crazy busy around here the last few weeks. I apologize in advance for the longer post, as the two weeks are combined.

     According to TheBump.com for Week 34, we are still at the size of a honeydew, and is 17.2 - 18.7 inches long and 4.2 - 5.8 pounds. She is beginning to recognize simple songs and tunes. I better start singing my lullaby to her now so she is accustomed and soothed by it once she comes. My lullaby to her is the same one my mom sang to me every night before bed, the lullaby from The Lady and the Tramp. I got the song and have already begun practicing. I actually fell asleep last night to it while trying to sing it and remember the words. That's a lullaby that works! I just hope I don't fall asleep myself while singing it to her... that would be no good! Also, TheBump says that she's urinating a pint a day now. No wonder I'm running to the potty every hour or less now. geez! It also says that my vision could be getting blurry now, and my eyes itchy, but I haven't had any of those symptoms yet.

     For Week 35, TheBump.com says, that baby is the same size as last week, and that most of the growing from now on will be in plumping up (she won't really grow much longer, but that she'll gain up to a pound or more of fat between now and birth). Also, her hearing is totally developed now, and responds best to high-pitched noises. She is now pretty much sitting on my bladder now, basically explaining why the bathroom visits have increased this last week. Yesterday, while subbing, I went to the bathroom in between one of the classes (which were all 35 minutes long b/c of the early out schedule, and right after class I had to desperately go again. I thought it be one of those fake outs, where you go, and you piddle nothing, and get frustrated that you even went through the whole routine of going to the restroom; but no, I had to really go again, full bladder... man this is no joke!)

What have I been up to:
     Last weekend my mother came up and helped me with a few things... which was a tremendous help! Just when I'm feeling overwhelmed and unsure about being able to get all this stuff done, she shows up with some energy and helps me get a lot accomplished! She brought up the rest of the things from the shower and helped me organize it all and put it away (it was lying on the bed, and we were able to get it all cleared off and put into baskets and into the closet so she had a place to sleep). Then she helped me paint the dresser! Happy day! It went so quickly with her help! We were thinking it would take a couple hours, or an hour at least, but together we got it done in 30 minutes or less. And Sunday afternoon, we went back for a second coat before she went home. It felt so good to get that done. One less thing to worry about. Now all I need to do is put a coat of sealant on it and it's good to go!

     The drawers for the dresser are still not done. I need to get some wood putty and fill in all the holes from the old nails, and then sand them down, prime 'em, and then paint 'em. Who knows when that will happen. But at least, there will be a dresser in her room to set the changing pad on. And b/c of some poor amateur woodwork done previously, G is having to take the bottom drawer apart completely, and we are going to attach it to the dresser with hinges, and just put some baskets or a long plastic bin in there that I can pull in and out. Eventually I'll be able to put the cute pullies I purchased on the drawers and the dresser will be complete.... one day... hopefully one day soon.... But I think I've finally come to terms with the fact that it will likely not be done by the time Abby arrives, which is fine. I can't do it all.

     We also took the tape off the stripes that G and I painted the previous week. It doesn't look too bad actually. There are a few spots that need a little touch up, which I am hoping to fix this coming week. Then I'll be able to begin hanging the collage of frames and put the dresser in place underneath it.

     While we were painting the dresser, I asked G to work on the crib. I was going to spray paint over the few scratches on the crib, but mom and G said that it probably wouldn't work and we'd end up having to do the whole thing instead of just spots b/c the finish of the spray paint is different from the crib. Whatever, it's just a few. I can't complain, it was freely given to us by a generous couple in our church. I'm so grateful to have a wonderful crib, I can take a few scratches that come along with it. So I asked that he begin setting it up instead, but I guess there some screws that went missing in the garage. Rather than spend a ridiculous time searching for the unfindable, we just ordered new parts. They finally came in today and G spent the afternoon of his day off putting it together for me while I lay down stripped of sweaty clothes with every fan possible pointed at me trying to cool off and rest; good man that husband!

     Man, that crib is ginormous. I guess I've never been in a nursery before and seen how huge the cribs actually are. They're huge! wow! Now we just need to get the twin bed out of the room, and I can position the crib exactly where I want it and put the sheet on. It's beginning to slowly come together!

Some things I've noticed the past two weeks:
     My feet are still swelling. I'm still trying to guzzle the water, and raise my feet at some point throughout the day, but they're pretty much swollen. The right foot more so than the left, which is weird. However, as several people have pointed out, my wedding ring is still fitting, knock on wood! It gets tight at times, but that was normal even before pregnancy. Being able to still wear my wedding ring is awesome! I remember a friend that was unable to wear hers for most of her pregnancy because of how much weight she gained and swelled. I remember it being frustrating for her not to be able to wear her ring. My belly is getting seriously itchy more and more. I should be putting more lotion on it, I know, but I just forget. I am underestimating how spacious my belly has become and am bumping into things all the time. Or finding that I can't bend over the counter to get to the sink like I used to.

Doctor's Update:
     I went to the doctor's yesterday for my checkup. I met with an actual doctor this time. Since the doctor I requested was on vacation for a super long period of time and I needed to get it, I just chose to see another doctor. This ended up working out great for me. The more I thought about it, I'm really glad it worked out this way. Having Kaiser means that I have no clue who will be on call whenever I go into labor. Any one of the doctors could be there. I think there are eight or nine. Therefore, the more I meet the merrier. I've met the doctor I originally chose once; he was nice. I also met with another doctor for an appt when my nurse had to take the day off unexpectedly, and he was able to fit me in; he was interesting. And then yesterday, I met with another doctor, this time a female; and I super super liked her! I sorta hope she's the one on call when I give birth. She was super easy to talk to and we got along well. She spent time talking to me and answering any questions I had, not that the others didn't do this, but I just really like her a lot.

     Anyway, she checked me out and said that she's really pleased with how everything looks! I gained another two pounds, I've lost track at what that puts me at now, blerg. It's over the amount they wanted me to gain, and I still have 5 weeks to go. But still, it's significantly lower than what I thought I was going to have to gain originally, which is good. My urine looks good; my belly is measuring at 33 inches, which she said is normal; Abby's kick counts are around 10-20 minutes still (honestly, I haven't been as up on it as I should be just b/c she's always kicking me); she's happy with my weight, etc etc. The only thing she mentioned was the anemia, but I told her that my nurse had me begin taking the iron pills last time, which was only two weeks ago, so she said it wasn't sufficient time to take another test to check it, but that I should continue taking it so as to make sure that.... something about a blood transfusion.

     I also asked her about attending the Pastor's Wives Retreat that I'm signed up for next weekend (I'll have 4 weeks left at that point). She said that as long as I don't begin contractions or anything else major happens, then she is fine with me going since everything looks so great. I just have to make sure that I get out and walk around every 90 minutes to ensure that a blood clot doesn't form... since ya know, that could be deadly and all! I'm really excited about going next weekend. I really hope that everything continues to progress well so that I can attend!

Progress:

Week 33

Baby is now the size of a Honeydew!
The Bump says that baby Abby's bones are growing stronger, and she will be able to keep her eyes open when awake. Abby's brain is developing rapidly and she could grow up to an inch this week alone!


7 more weeks to go now!
My cousin J says that these last two months go by really slowly... which for me, at this point, is good to hear.
The weeks have been rushing by and I've barely been able to take a breath it seems.
Hearing that things begin to seem very long at this point is welcome news!
Especially since I have SO many things to get done still.

• Due to certain circumstances, I've had to put off finishing up the strips in Abby's room. Therefore, who knows when I'll be able to get that finished. Hopefully I'll be able to get it done at least a week or more before Abby gets here so the smell is not still lingering when she does arrive home.
• I need to finish up the mobile that will go above her crib. I was able to get my fishing line finally, so I now have all the materials, and I just need to assemble it! Hopefully that will get done this week!
• The crib needs to be touched up. There are a few minor scratches on it, nothing big. My plan is to spray paint right over those few spots, and it should be good as new! That also needs to happen asap, which shouldn't be a big deal, b/c it shouldn't take longer than a few minutes to do.
• The dresser could not be giving me more problems at this point. I went to the store during Easter break to get all the materials and whip the dresser out! However, the lady at the store suggested I do a test run first before doing the whole dresser. This put me back a day, whatever. The trial run seemed to work so the next day I set out to sand the whole dresser and prime it. Which would have been great, except that I realized that there are huge holes in the drawers due to the old pullies that I took out; duh Meghan! I'll need to get some kind of wood putty to fill those in and then re-sand the drawers and prime them. Also I found that the bottom piece of wood of one of the drawers is so thin that it is not staying nailed together, and you can tell that previous owners found this problem, and tried to fix it by just sticking more nails into it. However, b/c the piece of wood is SO thin, it's not holding the nails, and therefore, the wood is falling off, leaving exposed nails all over the drawer! I just don't see this being a good idea in a child's room. G is in charge of taking all the old nails out and replacing the bottom slab of wood. At which point, I can then finish the dresser in it's entirety. Until then, I'm going to just finish up the frame of the dresser so there will be something for the changing pad to sit on. 

     On Saturday, my MIL, Sisters-in-law, and GMIL all went down to cousin J's family shower to shower her with love and gifts, and greet baby A! We had such a wonderful time. J gave me and sister S all sorts of wonderful advice and tips for when our children come. It was great. J's mother planned such a wonderful afternoon full of games, food, and plenty of time for talking and laughter. Also, I held baby A for a little while, and totally did NOT freak out! I really enjoyed my time with them.

Cousin J's shower!

Things I've noticed this week:
     The heartburn is more and more throughout the day. It's every night still, without fail. The second I lay down, the heartburn comes. But I've noticed that a very mild case of it likes to rear it's ugly head throughout the day as well. I've been pounding the water, and the swelling seems to be slightly better. The feet are still swollen, but it's not a ghastly sight anymore... well, it is, but just not as ghastly. I am having lovely side effects from the extra zinc the nurse is having me take. My back began aching this week. That can go away! My skin is still as dry as ever. And the peeling that is starting to occur this week from baby Hez' birthday party several weeks ago, mixed with the Hooligan race the same day, it not exactly helping the dry skin.

     I had another nurse appt. this Friday. I gained another 2 pounds, which puts me at a total of 13. My nurse is very please with this, even though she told me she wanted me to gain anywhere from 11-15, and at this rate I will exceed the 15. But still, I won't be gaining much more than that at least, which is why she's still pleased I guess. Abby's heart rate was 148ish, which is normal (120-160 is good). My nurse has been very pleased with my pregnancy so far. Next time I see her she will do the next ultrasound to determine Abby's position. She said that usually around week 36 is when they begin dropping and stop flip flopping. Can't wait to see where Abby is; hopefully all will be well.

Progress:

Painting Abigail's Room

     This week has been great!
     A lot has been accomplished, thanks to our wonderful family!
     Last week was our last birthing class; I'm kinda bummed, but it also meant that our Saturday's will be freed up to get some things done around the house that need to be done in preparation for Abigail's arrival.
     For example, G's parents and sister, C, came up Friday night and we all went to sister S's play at the high school, The Bride of Brackenloch, which was wonderful, the students did such a great job! And then, early Saturday morning, they all came over for breakfast, and the girls helped me paint Abigail's room while the guys had a nice morning out on the town together.

     We were able to get three walls painted and the fourth wall mostly taped off and ready to paint stripes.
There were just a few dark spots on the wall that needed to be touched up with some white before we taped it and painted over it. And the fourth wall slants up, so there was no way we could reach the very top in order to tape the last stripe. Hopefully this week G will be able to help me reach the top and finish taping that off, and then I can get to painting the strips, and then the room will be fully painted!

     I am so happy with the gray that I ended up picking out! I was really nervous about the shade. I spent an hour in Ace hardware store on Thursday going through the stacks of papers looking for the perfect gray. How on earth is one supposed to tell what an entire room will look like from one tiny little 1x1 square on paper that is surrounded by other shades?! geez! Thankfully I just went with my gut, and picked out one, and it looks fabulous! It looks good with the lights on and off, which was a concern as well.

These were the shades it came down to. San Antonio Gray won!

Before: View from door

Before: View from closet

Here is Mama C and sister C getting started!

C taking care of cutting in around the door.

(We forgot to take off the vent, so we ended up getting a little paint on it, thankfully sister S came to the rescue and took it off and cleaned it for us!)

Sister S working the roller, while sister C cuts in from the floor.
Mama C busting out that wall!

These are the stripes that are taped off and almost ready to go. The post-its are to denote what stripes will be white, so that we would know where to put the tape, and then it will make it easier to paint the opposite stripes gray.

  

                

 Mama C touching up the small wall by the closet.
And the wall with the door is shown completely done. You can see the spot behind the door that needed to have a little touch up of white before we taped it off. That will be my job this week. Finish taping that wall off.

     Things went really well, and we took everyone out for the best pizza ever at Pizza Barn in Kernville afterwards to celebrate and say thank you! I am so grateful to them for helping! And yes, even though I'm not in the pictures, I promise I didn't make them do all the work, I helped out. I just needed to take pictures along the way for my mom who was at her Women's Retreat and was unable to make it up to help paint.

     Thank you family for all your help, I am truly indebted to you!