How far along: 37 weeks - inching closer to the finish line!
Due Date: December 17, 2015
Baby is the size of: The size of a winter melon, or Cody prefers - a tackle box. She should be getting close to six pounds hopefully, and probably around 19 inches long. She seems pretty little to me.
Symptoms: Still (attempting to rock) the puffy face. Mildly swollen feet and ankles - the norms of being 9 months pregnant. Definitely feeling more pressure because she is so low now. Exhausted really easily, but the urge to nest is in full force. CLEAN EVERYTHING!
Movement: More rolls, jabs, shifts, and pushes. I can feel her little butt and back pushing out around my belly button a lot.
Nursery: Cody and his dad put up her book shelves, and I have to say it completely changed the look of the room with all her little books up there. I love them so much! Her crib sheet FINALLY arrived! Cody so meticulously put up the prints on her walls, and I was so proud of him! Nursery is done - minus her monogram, which will probably be done after she arrives.
Maternity Clothes: Leggings and whatever fits on the top. I broke my boots - you know, the only pair of shoes that fit these ginormous feet. So it's going to be slippers, flip-flops, and tennis shoes for the WIN!
Sleep: I sleep for about 2-3 hours at a time, which is fine considering that's what my new schedule will be when she's here for awhile. Just getting really hot, uncomfortable, and taking several potty breaks.
Best Moment This Week: Thanksgiving with our families! Our first Thanksgiving in our new house, and although it wasn't exactly how we planned, it was perfect!
Missing Anything: I already know I'll miss being pregnant, but I won't miss the difficulty of rolling around in bed trying to find a comfortable position. Or looking like a beached whale. :)
Cravings/Aversions: Chick-fil-a chicken salad sandwiches! And cinnamon poptarts. And just sweets in general.
Mood: Feeling more and more ready for our little peanut to come home. Very grateful for everybody who has helped me get ready for her - especially my sister, who cleaned and picked up our house without a complaint. Harper and I owe her BIG TIME. :)
Doctor's Appointment: We thought we might be having a Thanksgiving baby for awhile after our last appointment. My blood pressure was even higher when they first checked it at the doctor's office, and there were more proteins in my urine. So, my doctor thought it would be better to have more tests run to have a better idea of what the next step should be. So, after being sent to the hospital, hooked up for another stress test, and blood being taken, we stayed at the hospital for about 2 hours. If they had come back not so good, I would be induced. Luckily, after laying down for two hours, and my blood pressure and tests results coming back completely perfect, we were sent home. But because everything was SO perfect when I was laying down, I'm now on COMPLETE bed rest - at least for the next week. I'm only a centimeter dilated, so we'll check it out again next appointment and see how things look. We may be meeting her a little earlier than expected!
Husband: Wonderful! Dealing with my crazy hormones and putting up her book shelves made this mama h-a-p-p-y. Worked really hard on finishing up her nursery, and giving me lots of pep talks to calm my hormonal butt down. He's the best.
This Thanksgiving was probably one of my favorites of all time.
We didn't go anywhere special. In fact, it was forbidden after our doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I didn't spend all day in the kitchen cooking my first turkey, anxiously awaiting family to come over and spend our first Thanksgiving in our new home. Family did come over, but not because we planned it. I didn't have a Thanksgiving tablescape that I researched for weeks on Pinterest. I had no Thanksgiving decorations - at all. I actually have Christmas decorations up because we don't know when our little peanut will arrive in the next coming weeks. Our Thanksgiving was pretty much the opposite of what we had planned. But it was still perfect.
Let me rewind a bit.
Our Thanksgiving was planned to go like this:
We were going to head to Cody's parents house Thanksgiving morning and spend the morning and afternoon with them. We've never spent Thanksgiving with them on the day of, and we were both really looking forward to it. After spending the majority of the day with them, we were going to head back to our house, pack up our dogs, and head straight to my parents' house for a Thanksgiving dinner that would surely cap off a great day giving thanks and being surrounded by everybody we loved. That was our plan.
But plans change.
And they changed quickly after our doctor's appointment on Wednesday.
Complete bed rest.
Not moderate bed rest - complete.
Which meant, no traveling for this mama on Thanksgiving.
Although I know that her health and my health is the priority, I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
After making the calls to our families, sharing the news, there was no hesitation and no doubt from either side that they were going to make sure our Thanksgiving was just as special as we originally planned. And that it was.
Just like we originally planned, Cody's family brought us a full Thanksgiving lunch and my family brought to us a full Thanksgiving dinner. No short cuts - full meals cooked and packed up just for us. Hams, turkeys, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casseroles - you name it. There was never once a hint of inconvenience from either side - nothing but love and understanding for our tiny bump in the road. What started off as a hint of disappointment, turned out to be a day of complete perfection thanks to our families. We not only were able to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving meal, but were shown so much love from the people that mean the most to us. Our bump in the road brought all the people we love under our roof, and we couldn't have been more thankful. Although we didn't plan on hosting our first Thanksgiving in our new home, I wouldn't have wanted our Thanksgiving to go any other way.
How far along: 36 weeks - 9 MONTHS PREGNANT. Holy cow.
Due Date: December 17, 2015
Baby is the size of: A CABBAGE PATCH KID! We actually know exactly how much she weighs after our doctor's appointment last week - 5.7 pounds! Not quite sure how long she is, but she should be around 18-19 inches or so.
Symptoms: The chubby pregnant face has officially made an appearance. I think the high blood pressure doesn't help either - thanks water retention. Lots of acid reflux these past few nights, enough to wake me up and keep me up at night. Achy legs. And, well achy everything. Puffy and swollen legs and feet when I'm up too long, which is now less and less now that I'm on bed rest.
Gender: Confirmed once again from our ultrasound last week, a little girl. Posthere.
Movement: Lots and lots the last few days and nights. Her most active times are still the same - mornings and evenings. Lazy girl during the day.
Nursery: Took a trip to Hobby Lobby to try and figure out what frames I want for her walls. I'm kinda stuck right now with what I want, but I'm hoping I can make some decisions sooner rather than later... Crib sheet "shipped" last Monday, but stopped for the entire week. So after a complaint (yet again), the crib sheet magically started making it's way here. Here's to hoping it gets here before this little lady actually arrives.
Maternity Clothes: My favorite thing about bed rest - 24/7 leggings. And I don't have to wear the only pair of seasonally appropriate shoes that will squeeze on these block feet.
Sleep: It took me about 36 weeks to struggle in this department, and struggling is what's been going on every night the past week. This struggle bus is on a nightly routine, too, which is weird. Fall asleep, wake up sweating profousely, bathroom, fall asleep, acid reflux, fall asleep, wake up, bathroom, lay back down, get cold, pull covers from husband, fall back asleep, and then Maci decides she wants to go outside around 6 every morning. Now if only we can get Harper on this strict of a routine once she arrives...
Best Moment This Week: We took a little break from bed rest and celebrated our little girl with another shower with Cody's family. I'm glad I can still do light activities as long as I'm relaxing and sitting majority of the day. AND having our final ultrasound this past week made my heart want to explode! Seeing those little lips, and nose, and cheeks...eek!
Missing Anything: A normal, non-puffy face?
Cravings/Aversions: New craving - Chick-fil-a chicken salad sandwiches and wraps. Yes, please!
Mood: Such a wide range this past week - disappointed, shocked, stressed to so suddenly be pulled from my classroom and put on best rest, especially with having so much to do still before maternity leave. A little overwhelmed with trying to get the house and nursery ready for our little peanut to come home, especially since I can't do much majority of the day. (thank goodness for helpers!) But excited that we're getting closer and closer to finally meeting our daughter!
Doctor's Appointment: Well obviously, I'm on bed rest. Blood pressure was even higher than the appointment before, which was a little shocking considering I monitored it at home all week. We had an ultrasound and found out she was about 5.7 pounds as of now. She's head down, which is a relief because I honestly wasn't sure. We have another appointment on Wednesday, which I'll have another non-stress test.
Husband: Pretty sure I'm driving him crazy with all my nesting needs. He's been very helpful with best rest, and making sure I'm doing (or not doing) what I need to do. I think we're both ready to meet this little girl!
Not exactly what I was expecting or hoping for these last few weeks of my pregnancy.
I feel like I've been super lucky to have had such an "easy" and healthy pregnancy up until this point. I never battled morning sickness,I've been sleeping great, and every ultrasound has shown one perfectly healthy little girl. Now don't get me wrong, I've had my share of struggles, especially as of recent - I only have one appropriate pair of shoes that fit on these little brick feet, a few weeks of nausea there in the beginning, and a few emotional breakdowns here and there. But a pretty great pregnancy for the most part. Which is exactly why I never saw bed rest in my future.
To give a little back story...
At my 34 week appointment, my blood pressure was abnormally high. A complete shock since my blood pressure was perfect for the first 33 weeks leading up. It was high enough that they didn't want me leaving until it went down. After a few minutes of laying on my left side, they finally hooked this big ol' belly up for a non-stress test to monitor her for awhile and to see if my blood pressure went down any. After talking with the doctor, a blood test was in order, as well as a 24-hour urine test - which in my opinion, would raise anybody's blood pressure in itself. (Especially for those working mommies!) She did warn of bed rest, but after a week of monitoring at home, my blood pressure was pretty decent for being this far along.
Fast forward to our appointment this week...
I ended up having to take a half day off work on Tuesday to make our appointment. But I thought it would be beneficial for my blood pressure, so I wasn't rushing after school to get there. By the time we were called back, I thought for sure my blood pressure would be down from the previous week, but somehow it managed to be even higher than it was previously. As soon as I heard the numbers, I knew what was coming. That 'b' word that I really didn't even want to think about. Sure enough, bed rest was what my doctor prescribed.
So here I am.
As of now, it's not complete bed rest.
I can still do mild activity for short periods of the day.
But as for now, no working.
And lots of laying around.
I have a lot of mixed emotions towards this whole thing.
Part of me feels grateful to have time before she arrives to get some last minute things together and ordered (online ordering, of course - from my couch). And then part of me wishes I could finish this pregnancy strong with getting things taken care of at work and around the house. There are so many things I wanted to do and get done within these last few weeks, but now I have a restriction so suddenly and unexpectedly.
And to think that if this blood pressure thing doesn't go down, our little Christmas baby might be making her way into the world a few weeks sooner than expected - it's a little terrifying! Since I found out about this little babe back in April, December 17th was the day. I've had it in my head that would have 'x' amount of weeks left to prepare - probably a little naive, but hey, first time mom over here. Big hopes, big goals before her arrival. And now time being possibly cut short and not having the ability to do much about it on bed rest. It's a lot to take in.
The one thing though that I've been trying to wrap my head around is that this is all for her safety (and my safety as well). Despite my crazy obsessions for wanting to clean the house and have everything perfect for when she gets home, I now have to put her well-being in front of my not as important wants. Welcome to mommy-hood, right? I want nothing but the best for her. For her to be healthy and safe. To give her lots of love and security.
So if bed rest is what I need to do to give that to her, sign me up.
