Sunday, April 19, 2015
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Update 04/14/15
Alright, it's been weeks since I last wrote. It's definitely been a whirlwind since Emily was born. I absolutely love being home with our little girl. I also can't believe I thought I would be able to do all the housework I wanted to do and take care of her. Haha, silly me! But, I do get what I think is adequate sleep... maybe that's why I'm not getting all of the housework done?
Our typical day looks like waking up around 9am - I think we will start waking up earlier as I have been better about getting her to go to sleep a little earlier each night. She wanted to party until 1am when she was weeks old haha. Now it's more like 10-11pm. She wakes up a few times to eat, but it's no big deal as she quickly falls asleep after eating. We wake up at 9-ish, she takes a few short naps until around noon and then usually naps for 1-2 hours or so, sometimes 2 naps depending. She is usually up from 3pm until bedtime, with maybe another 30 minute nap somewhere in between.
She bedshares, so that makes it SO easy... unclasp the bra, feed, fall asleep. I know a lot of people frown upon that, but hey, we are one of the only places in the world that try not to do that. It seems like most countries bedshare, babywear, etc... and we have one of the higher rates of SIDs. I follow safe bedsharing with her. I waited until she was 4-5 days old before I allowed her in bed as I had a c-section and was on pain meds. I took them for a few days and as soon as it had been 24 hours I allowed her in bed. We also have a rail on the side of the bed for when she is older and can roll. I sleep in between Emily and Jesse, as that's what's safe for us. I always know where she is, but Jesse is a deep sleeper. And so on and so on. I just make sure she is safe in bed. I love having her in bed, love the cuddles and being close to my little one. I can easily check on her by just opening my eyes.
I have also started cloth diapering! I will just go into it a little bit right now. We had so many newborn diapers, and with the c-section I was not in a place to even start cloth diapering. I barely remember the first week or two with my lack of sleep, baby blues, being super sore from surgery, etc. We started between 3-4 weeks old. I use flats, prefolds, and fitteds. I love them all and use them for different things. Flats for when she is awake and I will change her often. Prefolds for when I think she will nap or if we are out and about. Fitteds for overnight and I usually change her once in the middle of the night (after the 5 hour sleep session she gives me)- so we use two fitteds. I actually also throw in a hemp doubler at night too as she eats and eats at night so she can get her diaper very wet. I wash them every other day. I just ordered some wool covers as I would love to use only natural fibers vs synthetics as a personal preference. Wool also seems so much softer. Plus it kind of goes with my kind of crunchy nature. ;)
TMI alert: Breastfeeding! What an adventure to say the least. It was very painful the first few weeks, and it made me cry a few times from the pain. I didn't realize how important for me it was to keep the nipples lubricated. I got cracks because of it and it hurt so bad. I tried just breastmilk and then breastmilk and coconut oil. Eventually at day 10 I used the Earth Mama's nipple butter after every single feed. After 2-3 days things felt way better. It wasn't until 4-5 weeks that it started feeling comfortable though. I think that's because she got bigger and my body was more used to it. I'm so happy we pushed through it (I was determined to) and now it's nothing. We lay in bed and side-lay nurse and it's the easiest thing ever. I almost look forward to it because then I get to relax and cuddle Emily, watch TV or play on my phone. :) Jesse fed her a bottle a week ago to try to get her used to it, so eventually we can go on a date night. She didn't like it at first, but eventually took it. I think our first date will be short enough to not need a bottle though. I am so looking forward to Monday's 2 month appointment to see her new weight/height/head measurement. I am so excited to see what my superpowers are doing for her! :) It seriously makes me proud that my body can feed her.
The best thing I think I have done for myself is to get out of the house. That means our house isn't the cleanest, but it seriously helps my mood. I barely got out of the house the first two weeks and I had bad baby blues. I cried all day long about nothing. Once I started getting out I felt so much better. Even if we go to the grocery store and back, it lifts my mood.
Well, Emily is awake and I hear her "calling my name" or grunting to be picked up, one of the two. Haha! :)
Our typical day looks like waking up around 9am - I think we will start waking up earlier as I have been better about getting her to go to sleep a little earlier each night. She wanted to party until 1am when she was weeks old haha. Now it's more like 10-11pm. She wakes up a few times to eat, but it's no big deal as she quickly falls asleep after eating. We wake up at 9-ish, she takes a few short naps until around noon and then usually naps for 1-2 hours or so, sometimes 2 naps depending. She is usually up from 3pm until bedtime, with maybe another 30 minute nap somewhere in between.
She bedshares, so that makes it SO easy... unclasp the bra, feed, fall asleep. I know a lot of people frown upon that, but hey, we are one of the only places in the world that try not to do that. It seems like most countries bedshare, babywear, etc... and we have one of the higher rates of SIDs. I follow safe bedsharing with her. I waited until she was 4-5 days old before I allowed her in bed as I had a c-section and was on pain meds. I took them for a few days and as soon as it had been 24 hours I allowed her in bed. We also have a rail on the side of the bed for when she is older and can roll. I sleep in between Emily and Jesse, as that's what's safe for us. I always know where she is, but Jesse is a deep sleeper. And so on and so on. I just make sure she is safe in bed. I love having her in bed, love the cuddles and being close to my little one. I can easily check on her by just opening my eyes.
I have also started cloth diapering! I will just go into it a little bit right now. We had so many newborn diapers, and with the c-section I was not in a place to even start cloth diapering. I barely remember the first week or two with my lack of sleep, baby blues, being super sore from surgery, etc. We started between 3-4 weeks old. I use flats, prefolds, and fitteds. I love them all and use them for different things. Flats for when she is awake and I will change her often. Prefolds for when I think she will nap or if we are out and about. Fitteds for overnight and I usually change her once in the middle of the night (after the 5 hour sleep session she gives me)- so we use two fitteds. I actually also throw in a hemp doubler at night too as she eats and eats at night so she can get her diaper very wet. I wash them every other day. I just ordered some wool covers as I would love to use only natural fibers vs synthetics as a personal preference. Wool also seems so much softer. Plus it kind of goes with my kind of crunchy nature. ;)
TMI alert: Breastfeeding! What an adventure to say the least. It was very painful the first few weeks, and it made me cry a few times from the pain. I didn't realize how important for me it was to keep the nipples lubricated. I got cracks because of it and it hurt so bad. I tried just breastmilk and then breastmilk and coconut oil. Eventually at day 10 I used the Earth Mama's nipple butter after every single feed. After 2-3 days things felt way better. It wasn't until 4-5 weeks that it started feeling comfortable though. I think that's because she got bigger and my body was more used to it. I'm so happy we pushed through it (I was determined to) and now it's nothing. We lay in bed and side-lay nurse and it's the easiest thing ever. I almost look forward to it because then I get to relax and cuddle Emily, watch TV or play on my phone. :) Jesse fed her a bottle a week ago to try to get her used to it, so eventually we can go on a date night. She didn't like it at first, but eventually took it. I think our first date will be short enough to not need a bottle though. I am so looking forward to Monday's 2 month appointment to see her new weight/height/head measurement. I am so excited to see what my superpowers are doing for her! :) It seriously makes me proud that my body can feed her.
The best thing I think I have done for myself is to get out of the house. That means our house isn't the cleanest, but it seriously helps my mood. I barely got out of the house the first two weeks and I had bad baby blues. I cried all day long about nothing. Once I started getting out I felt so much better. Even if we go to the grocery store and back, it lifts my mood.
Well, Emily is awake and I hear her "calling my name" or grunting to be picked up, one of the two. Haha! :)
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Our Birth Story
We had our baby girl! It's been a little over two weeks now. It's been a lot more work than I thought it would be, so it's taken me a while to get a chance to write our birth story. Here it is...
On Tuesday the 17th of February we decided to try to slowly induce naturally to see if we could jump start anything. This was all under the guidance of my midwife. We tried taking an herbal tincture every 30 minutes for a few hours. No contractions. So the next day as soon as I woke up I drank a disgusting castor oil shake that I will never forget. It made me go to the bathroom like super crazy all day long. No contractions.
Thursday the 19th we went in for another biophysical ultrasound and it only scored a 2 out of 10. Baby had a good heart rate and good fluid levels, but she wasn't moving the way they needed her to be. The technician wasn't too concerned with it, so we left the hospital/medical building to go meet up with my midwife. When we got there she asked why we had left and the doctor of the office we went to needed us to come back to the hospital. My midwife was very concerned that the baby was not engaging at 41w6d. She said she had never seen anything like this and was worried the baby's cord was wrapped around her body/neck or something else was wrong. She came out telling us we needed to return to the hospital and have a c-section. Obviously this was something serious as midwives aren't in the business of having their patients do c-sections. Luckily we had our bags packed in the car as we were planning to do some serious inducing that day.
We returned to the hospital and we got setup on the monitors. Baby's heart rate kept going up a little too high in waves, so they pushed the c-section up an hour earlier than the anesthesiologist normally would perform them. Our little Emily was born at 1:40pm. She came out and we heard her little cries. She was a healthy little 7lbs 8oz and 19.25 inches baby girl.
As the doctor was leaving the surgery room, he told us that Emily had been engaging the side of my uterus instead of the cervix and we had been very close to uterine rupture. I was so relieved that we did not try to induce any more than we had, as all that inducing could have caused the uterus to rupture - a very serious thing for baby and me. The doctor later talked to us and said my uterus is positioned to make babies posterior, which makes it harder for the baby to go through the birth canal. On top of that, my hip/bone structure was angled even more than normal, so a posterior baby would unlikely be able to come out. Knowing that the second baby is bigger than the first usually, we will opt to do a c-section next time in order for everyone to be safe. I really am not one to want a c-section. I had been trying to go natural the whole time, but my body apparently isn't designed to do that. The doctor said in his 35 years of working as an OB, he had only seen 1 other patient that had a situation like me. This is so crazy to me, but it is what it is.
Emily latched on right away when I got into the recovery room. As of writing this 16 days later, we are finally doing well with breastfeeding. The first 2 weeks were painful and hard, but my midwife helped me perfect her latch and I think everything is healing. It takes a while for your nipples to toughen up. Now it's not so bad.
We were able to go home the following evening which is uncommon, but we told the doctor that I wouldn't get sleep in the hospital - and sleep allows you to heal. I hadn't slept the first night. Too much noise and commotion. I was told healing goes better when you have a c-section without inducing/laboring beforehand. I am truly happy that I didn't spend 20 painful hours in labor to only go in for a c-section and have to recover from both situations.
Well, that is our birth story. I should add that I do not feel sad about not being able to do the natural birth I had wanted knowing now that my body wasn't very capable of doing so. I am much more thankful we are both safe and sound and healthy. That's the most important thing.
On Tuesday the 17th of February we decided to try to slowly induce naturally to see if we could jump start anything. This was all under the guidance of my midwife. We tried taking an herbal tincture every 30 minutes for a few hours. No contractions. So the next day as soon as I woke up I drank a disgusting castor oil shake that I will never forget. It made me go to the bathroom like super crazy all day long. No contractions.
Thursday the 19th we went in for another biophysical ultrasound and it only scored a 2 out of 10. Baby had a good heart rate and good fluid levels, but she wasn't moving the way they needed her to be. The technician wasn't too concerned with it, so we left the hospital/medical building to go meet up with my midwife. When we got there she asked why we had left and the doctor of the office we went to needed us to come back to the hospital. My midwife was very concerned that the baby was not engaging at 41w6d. She said she had never seen anything like this and was worried the baby's cord was wrapped around her body/neck or something else was wrong. She came out telling us we needed to return to the hospital and have a c-section. Obviously this was something serious as midwives aren't in the business of having their patients do c-sections. Luckily we had our bags packed in the car as we were planning to do some serious inducing that day.
We returned to the hospital and we got setup on the monitors. Baby's heart rate kept going up a little too high in waves, so they pushed the c-section up an hour earlier than the anesthesiologist normally would perform them. Our little Emily was born at 1:40pm. She came out and we heard her little cries. She was a healthy little 7lbs 8oz and 19.25 inches baby girl.
As the doctor was leaving the surgery room, he told us that Emily had been engaging the side of my uterus instead of the cervix and we had been very close to uterine rupture. I was so relieved that we did not try to induce any more than we had, as all that inducing could have caused the uterus to rupture - a very serious thing for baby and me. The doctor later talked to us and said my uterus is positioned to make babies posterior, which makes it harder for the baby to go through the birth canal. On top of that, my hip/bone structure was angled even more than normal, so a posterior baby would unlikely be able to come out. Knowing that the second baby is bigger than the first usually, we will opt to do a c-section next time in order for everyone to be safe. I really am not one to want a c-section. I had been trying to go natural the whole time, but my body apparently isn't designed to do that. The doctor said in his 35 years of working as an OB, he had only seen 1 other patient that had a situation like me. This is so crazy to me, but it is what it is.
Emily latched on right away when I got into the recovery room. As of writing this 16 days later, we are finally doing well with breastfeeding. The first 2 weeks were painful and hard, but my midwife helped me perfect her latch and I think everything is healing. It takes a while for your nipples to toughen up. Now it's not so bad.
We were able to go home the following evening which is uncommon, but we told the doctor that I wouldn't get sleep in the hospital - and sleep allows you to heal. I hadn't slept the first night. Too much noise and commotion. I was told healing goes better when you have a c-section without inducing/laboring beforehand. I am truly happy that I didn't spend 20 painful hours in labor to only go in for a c-section and have to recover from both situations.
Well, that is our birth story. I should add that I do not feel sad about not being able to do the natural birth I had wanted knowing now that my body wasn't very capable of doing so. I am much more thankful we are both safe and sound and healthy. That's the most important thing.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
40 Weeks & 4 Days Appointment
Today I had my weekly midwife appointment. Here's an update on what is going on:
- I am finally dilated - 1cm. Tried to do a membrane sweep, but Emily wasn't far enough in the pelvis so she couldn't. But the scar tissue was all gone!! :)
- There is too much (who know it was possible) amniotic fluid so little Emily is basically just moving all over the place. She hasn't been in my pelvis very far, so I need to lessen the fluid so she has less run to move. We need to make sure she can get into my pelvis so we know for sure she fits and because she is too high for labor right now. So I will be taking mag-cal vitamins, epsom salt baths, and drinking drinks with electrolytes every day.
- I also need to use the breast pump, walk, do the miles circuit, and take evening primrose oil daily to help move things along.
- My midwife will try to make an appt for Thursday (2 days) for an ultrasound biophysical to make sure everything looks good for baby to stay another week.
- My next appointment is Tuesday the 17th. Let's hope I don't make it to that appointment though!! :)
- The 18th would be trying induction methods at the birthing center. The 20th I would go to the hospital for a medical induction (pitocin). This is the plan if all else fails.
Let's hope she comes sooner than later though! :)
Edited to add:
40 weeks & 6 days - I had my biophysical profile ultrasound. Emily is weighing approximately 7 pounds & 11 ounces. She is a happy little camper - she is practicing breathing, the amniotic fluid was a 13 AFI (norm is 8-18) which is good, and everything seemed fine. They will send the information to my midwife now.
Edited to add:
40 weeks & 6 days - I had my biophysical profile ultrasound. Emily is weighing approximately 7 pounds & 11 ounces. She is a happy little camper - she is practicing breathing, the amniotic fluid was a 13 AFI (norm is 8-18) which is good, and everything seemed fine. They will send the information to my midwife now.
Friday, February 6, 2015
40 Weeks
How big is baby?: Small Pumpkin - 20 inches & 7.5 pounds ~ Let's just say baby is as big as a newborn baby ;)
Gender: Girl
Weight Gain: I have gained 38 pounds total.
Symptoms: I feel big and tired. I feel like I will always be pregnant and it will never ever end. At my last appointment my cervix was not dilated, and it was soft and facing out more.
Cravings: Fresh berries sound amazing. I wish it were summer only for the fruit.
Sleep: I've been sleeping a little better. Feeling more rested.
What I Miss: Having a body with no bump.
Best Moment This Week: I hit 40 weeks! I wanted to hit 40 weeks ever since I was pregnant to give our little girl the best. They still do a lot of good growing between 37-40 weeks IF your pregnancy is healthy and low risk.
What am I looking forward to?: Holding our baby girl.
Next Appointment: February 10th.
Additional Notes:
- A few years ago I had a colposcopy (procedure where they scraped a few cells off my cervix when my pap came back abnormal). It wasn't a big deal, but it left a little bit of scar tissue on my cervix. At the next appointment my midwife will massage the tissue to break it apart. People that have scar tissue seem to have a harder time getting their cervix to dilate. I've read that people can have contractions for days or it just won't dilate. I want my body to be able to naturally progress when it's time for me to be in labor. I don't want to stall my labor at all.
- I was really trying to be good about letting my body naturally decide when to go into labor. Now that I have hit 40 weeks I will try to do a few natural things to see if it may work, but other than that, I don't have any plans of trying anything more until the 18th - 2 days before 42 weeks. My midwife will try doing a number of things, and if nothing works I get transferred to the hospital on the 20th as I can no longer give birth at the center once I hit 42 weeks. We have a plan with my midwife on the outline in case I don't go into labor.
- I am now at the point where I am over being pregnant. I am glad I expected to go past due as I would be a lot more disappointed at this point. I keep seeing everyone having their babies and I am just sitting here pregnant and not having an end in sight. I need to remember 65% of babies are born after 40 weeks. I just need a little more patience and to just enjoy this time I have alone and with my husband.
- I have also been doing the Miles Circuit to encourage baby to be in the right position. It is helping as she is on my left side a lot more now. Before she always wanted to be on the right side.
Friday, January 30, 2015
39 Weeks
How many weeks?: 39 Weeks
How big is baby?: Mini Watermelon - 20 inches & 7.25 pounds
Gender: Girl
Weight Gain: I have gained 35 pounds total.
Maternity Clothes: Sweat pants and the same shirts. Pretty much just have about 3 outfits at this point. Even my sweat pants are feeling super tight on me right now! :( I can't wait to for my sweats and yoga pants to fit better once baby is born.
Nursery: Besides two boxes I need to go through in the closet, the nursery is done. I said this last week. Oh well. We also got the cute rug, a teal lamp, and another wall art picture! :)
Symptoms: Not sleeping well. Belly too big to sit comfortably at times. My belly is very itchy and almost painful. I have stretch marks on my lower tummy, and a little bit going down my inner thigh. I do put body butter (coconut oil/shea butter) on everyday, but it's caused by genetics.
Cravings: We had Mongolian Grill last week - yay! I want it again though ha. We won't be going because it is kind of pricey. However, my birthday is in March so I know that I can go there postpartum (as well as a nursing mom) and be able to get a lot of food... My stomach will have a lot more room!!
Sleep: I'm just going to say "9th month of pregnancy" and that should sum it up.
What I Miss: Being comfortable.
Best Moment This Week: We got to take maternity photos and my sister in law had her baby a few weeks early so we met him!
What am I looking forward to?: Baby's arrival - I'm the type of person that likes plans and knowing what's going on. I can be spontaneous, but I am much more of a planner.
Next Appointment: February 2nd for my 39th week appointment.
Additional Notes:
How big is baby?: Mini Watermelon - 20 inches & 7.25 pounds
Gender: Girl
Weight Gain: I have gained 35 pounds total.
Maternity Clothes: Sweat pants and the same shirts. Pretty much just have about 3 outfits at this point. Even my sweat pants are feeling super tight on me right now! :( I can't wait to for my sweats and yoga pants to fit better once baby is born.
Nursery: Besides two boxes I need to go through in the closet, the nursery is done. I said this last week. Oh well. We also got the cute rug, a teal lamp, and another wall art picture! :)
Symptoms: Not sleeping well. Belly too big to sit comfortably at times. My belly is very itchy and almost painful. I have stretch marks on my lower tummy, and a little bit going down my inner thigh. I do put body butter (coconut oil/shea butter) on everyday, but it's caused by genetics.
Cravings: We had Mongolian Grill last week - yay! I want it again though ha. We won't be going because it is kind of pricey. However, my birthday is in March so I know that I can go there postpartum (as well as a nursing mom) and be able to get a lot of food... My stomach will have a lot more room!!
Sleep: I'm just going to say "9th month of pregnancy" and that should sum it up.
What I Miss: Being comfortable.
Best Moment This Week: We got to take maternity photos and my sister in law had her baby a few weeks early so we met him!
What am I looking forward to?: Baby's arrival - I'm the type of person that likes plans and knowing what's going on. I can be spontaneous, but I am much more of a planner.
Next Appointment: February 2nd for my 39th week appointment.
Additional Notes:
- I gave in got my cervix checked. On January 27th I was not dilated - 0, but my cervix was thin.
Friday, January 23, 2015
38 Weeks
How many weeks?: 38 Weeks
How big is baby?: Leek - 19.75 inches & 6.8 pounds
Gender: Girl
Weight Gain: I have gained 34 pounds total.
Maternity Clothes: Sweat pants and the same shirts. Pretty much just have about 3 outfits at this point.
Nursery: Besides two boxes I need to go through in the closet, the nursery is done. Oh, and we are waiting on a rug (it's on it's way) and need to get a lamp at some point (probably after she is born).
Symptoms: I can't sleep at night. I wake up often and pee every 2 hours. My body feels tired and uncomfortable. I am getting huge. My body is ready.
Cravings: I really want Mongolian Grill. I've been waiting forever to get it, but it's never the right time. Was supposed to go tonight, but after Jesse's week at work I am not going to drag him out. Maybe we can go tomorrow.
Sleep: Sleep?! I finally got decent sleep last night when I took Tylenol PM.
What I Miss: Having a body with no bump.
Best Moment This Week: Almost have the house all nice and clean and organized.
What am I looking forward to?: Finishing the house up.
Next Appointment: January 27th for my 38th week appointment.
Additional Notes:
How big is baby?: Leek - 19.75 inches & 6.8 pounds
Gender: Girl
Weight Gain: I have gained 34 pounds total.
Maternity Clothes: Sweat pants and the same shirts. Pretty much just have about 3 outfits at this point.
Nursery: Besides two boxes I need to go through in the closet, the nursery is done. Oh, and we are waiting on a rug (it's on it's way) and need to get a lamp at some point (probably after she is born).
Symptoms: I can't sleep at night. I wake up often and pee every 2 hours. My body feels tired and uncomfortable. I am getting huge. My body is ready.
Cravings: I really want Mongolian Grill. I've been waiting forever to get it, but it's never the right time. Was supposed to go tonight, but after Jesse's week at work I am not going to drag him out. Maybe we can go tomorrow.
Sleep: Sleep?! I finally got decent sleep last night when I took Tylenol PM.
What I Miss: Having a body with no bump.
Best Moment This Week: Almost have the house all nice and clean and organized.
What am I looking forward to?: Finishing the house up.
Next Appointment: January 27th for my 38th week appointment.
Additional Notes:
- Midwife said baby girl is close to the 7 pound mark when she felt her at the appointment on the 20th.
- My sister in law was due 3 days before me. She had her baby boy this morning!! It's getting real. Our's will be here within 4 weeks - at the absolute latest.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Laundry Room to Bathroom
We have been in the process of remodeling our house since we bought it. Or should I call it fixing it up? Anyways, one of the areas we are working on is turning the laundry room into a second bathroom with a washer and dryer. It is actually going to get finished next week. We need to get sheet rock, paint, a fan, a heater, and finish adding the fixtures to the bathtub and sink. Once that is complete it will be done! So glad to get this done before baby comes. Construction around here always sucks as it seems to interfere with the plumbing and/or water. While they are working on this they will have to turn the water heater off/on some of the days as well as disconnect the washer and dryer. I can't wait to have the plumbing/laundry area/water heater not messed with for a long time. We have gone through having to repipe the whole house, having contractors here when there were no doors on the only bathroom, having tile put in bathrooms - thus removing toilets. All the while I am at home and pregnant. Luckily I didn't have a newborn with more laundry during this. Here is the progress so far:
This is what it looked like when we moved in:
This is during the re-pipe of the whole house and to add plumbing to this room:
This is what the room currently looks like:
You can see from the photos that we still need the insulation/walls, but you can also see the tile is done and it is coming along.
We have a contractor starting Monday to finish the room out so hopefully I can show a finished room at the end of next week! :) I'll also try to show other parts of the house and how we have transformed them.
This is what it looked like when we moved in:
 |
| Water Heater side |
 |
| Washer and Dryer side |
 |
| Water heater side |
 |
| Facing the washer/dryer side. One door goes out the back and one goes to the house. |
 |
| Water heater side - now includes new stackable w/d and a working toilet!! :) |
 |
| Now there is a shower and a sink on the other side of the room! |
We have a contractor starting Monday to finish the room out so hopefully I can show a finished room at the end of next week! :) I'll also try to show other parts of the house and how we have transformed them.
36 weeks
 |
| 36 weeks |
How big is baby?: Honeydew Melon - 18.75 inches & 5.75 pounds
Gender: Girl
Weight Gain: I have gained 30 pounds total.
Maternity Clothes: The last thing I bought were my 2 thermal shirts. I did not and will not buy maternity pants. I've been living in my leggings and yoga pants. They are actually getting super tight around my hips/tummy so I have resorted to sweat pants and hubby's pj bottoms (when home of course!). I do put on my yoga pants if we are going some place nice though. I just deal with it to look somewhat nice.
Nursery: I can't believe I am still here saying it's not complete! I just finished washing the last batch of laundry I am hoping. I had to wash all of her clothes, a billion blankets, bedding, car seat cover, boppy... my goodness, just so much to wash when you wash it all. I have everything 6+ months in 3 different boxes and will not be washing those items until she reaches those sizes. I figured I would end up re-washing them anyways if they sat in a box that long.
Symptoms: Oh there are so many symptoms. Ugh! I can't sleep at night. I wake up often and pee every 2 hours. It really sucks. I debate going back to bed once Jesse leaves as I can't tell if it will be worth it. I can't roll over in bed, I have to push up with my feet to lift myself into the air to turn. It is too uncomfortable and hard to just "roll". I have felt period like cramping the last week and TMI (the area down there feels sore for no reason). My body feels tired and uncomfortable. I often have trouble in the mornings and feel super fatigued and lightheaded. I went to church 2 weeks ago even though I felt really faint. I had a hard time the whole service. I ended up feeling the same last Sunday and decided to skip it. I really hate doing that, but knowing what happened last time... it didn't just go away. My hair is absolutely gorgeous and I love it!! Oh and I am always hot when I sleep. We have been using one comforter the last few nights (I washed the heated blanket we use but don't turn on) and I set the temp for 64 degrees and I still need my legs out of the blanket half the night.
Cravings: I have been craving hamburgers and fries, fruit juice, and scrambled eggs. I know my body needs more protein, so I am really trying to give it what it needs.
Sleep: Sleep?! Where can I find this?
What I Miss: Sleep.
Best Moment This Week: We met with a pediatrician on Tuesday and will go with her.
What am I looking forward to?: Having our little girl and bringing her home.
Next Appointment: January 13th. This is the first of my weekly appointments.
Additional Notes:
- According to the last appointment she is head down and ready to go. I have kicks on the right and her bottom is on the left. She is facing away from me since the placenta is anterior, but she is in the best position for anterior. Hopefully she moves around during labor so I don't have bad back labor. Either way, she is head down and that is what she needs to be to give birth.
- We have finished getting most of her things as of now. We only need to get a diaper/trash bin, clothes hamper, and a rug for her room.
- We are having to switch insurances as of the 1st of the year. We are getting all the information over to them today I am hoping. This also means we should be eligible for a breast pump. Our old insurance was grandfathered, so no breast pump at all. We had to switch insurances with Jesse's promotion... unfortunately the old insurance was better and free since he was union with only a $300 deductible. This one has a monthly deduct from payroll and has like a $2500 deductible. Too bad the birth wasn't before the insurance change.
- We ordered some props for Emily's newborn photos! :) I am so excited to get these photos done when she is 4-7 days old. Jesse/daddy is our own professional photographer. We even have the whole studio setup for it!
- One of my favorite parts about being pregnant is not having to worry about my weight gain or body issues. I told myself as long as I didn't go past 35 pounds (max of normal weight gain) I would be perfectly happy. If you are pregnant you will gain weight, and I gladly accepted it and have no regrets. I have eaten what I want and love it. It was oddly invigorating and strange to come to January 1st and not make a diet attempt. Everyone is talking about getting back on track and I say pass the brownies please and thank you! ;) I may go over 35 pounds by a pound or two as I have gained more weight the last trimester than the rest of the pregnancy. Emily has another 2-3 pounds left to gain so there is a possibility of going over. I will be okay with that. I am close enough.
- As part of our birth plan, we are not allowing visitors during our stay at the birthing center. This has been a bit of a shock, especially for my family, but it's what we want. I want peace and quiet and just the company of my incredible partner. I imagine it would be a different story if I went to the hospital, got an epidural and just had an easy enough birth without much pain. But I am planning to go natural and need the room to be dim lit, without much noise, and my husband next to me. In our birthing class I learned that I need to fake sleep by relaxing (laying down with eyes closed) between contractions in order to keep my energy up. My birthing center also discharges 3-6 hours after the birth. Just enough time to get mommy and baby looked at, do the first latch and then get up to pee. Once I am able to get up and pee, we can get packed up and head out. With an epidural of course you stay longer at a hospital because you can't even stand up right away.
- I have been stressing out the last few months about having visitors after the baby comes. I really want to enjoy the first few weeks with my husband and our new baby. I am really hoping to not have people over all of the time. I will be sore, tired, and not wanting to share MY baby with everyone else all the time. I hope people make their visits short and sweet, and anything longer then they should be helping around the house and not being a baby hog.
- I totally forgot there are at least 2 more loads of laundry to do - I need to wash my new woven wrap and wash all my cloth diapers. I ordered 4 prefolds and 2 fitted diapers off a diaper swap on FB. They are the green mountain diaper brand and I wanted to try them out. If I like them, I'll get more. I have quite a few others a friend gave us - lots of fuzzibunz size small, 2 thirsties, 2 blueberries, and 1 bumgenius. I also have one fitted I bought from a small company here in Tacoma. I was told not to get all of the same ones until I see what works. So that's what I have.
- I have also started taking gentle birth per my midwife's advice. You start at 35 weeks and take it daily to help your uterus do little contractions to help strengthen it. It supposedly helps when you go into labor. Your uterus should be stronger and I should have a faster labor. I hope it works. I don't want a super long labor. I have heard of people being in labor for 48 hours. I'd prefer less haha.
- I made a list for our labor/post birth bag. I'll be doing 2 bags. One for just the labor portion and then one for the post birth. Jesse can run out to the car once Emily comes for the second bag. I just don't want to haul in too much right away. The labor bag will have a lot less things in it - snacks, some clothing pieces (planning to labor in the tub), and a few other things. I am really excited about the huge water jug with a straw I found on amazon. It looks like a hospital one. I got it because the birthing center doesn't provide everything like the hospital and I know I will need a lot of water. I already am thirsty ALL of the time.
Hoping this isn't too big for a going home outfit. It's 0-3 months. 
Large Water Container - Yeah!
Well, that sure was a lot for one week, but I haven't been posting many weekly pregnancy blogs. We have been busy around here, and every time I think about posting something I think - should I take the time to do that or work on the dishes/laundry that needs to be done. You can see what has been winning out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)