NASA Engineer. Slow triathlete. Wannabe graphic designer. Crafter. Science junkie.
Pregnancy
Postpartum Observations
2Two posts in two days! I must be getting the hang of this mom thing, eh? (She says with a strong hint of sarcasm and/or irony…) I promise that my blog posts will eventually return to something other than all-baby, all-the-time, but I won’t make any promises as to when!
Morning snuggles with Daddy
So anyway, aside from the obvious — physical recovery, breastfeeding woes, hormore-induced mood swings, sleep deprivation — there are two things I’ve noticed so far in the postpartum department.
Emma’s impression of a dinosaur. Rawr!
First, my hair. My hair has been flat-out wacky since Emma was born. I knew that hair loss is a common postpartum side effect (which supposedly takes a few months to kick in, so we’ll see) but I hadn’t heard about the other random issues. If I don’t wash it daily, my hair feels limp and greasy as can be. I tried going without conditioner for a few days, but then everything was just a giant frizzball. But more than that, I have the most maddening WISPS along my hairline now! I’ve always had these, to a degree, but they have now taken on a whole new life of their own. It’s like I have a halo around my forehead. When I sit on the couch, the ceiling fan blows them across my eyes — which tickles in an annoying way. I can’t tame them in a ponytail. The only thing that works even remotely is a headband.
I wondered if I was just going crazy, but then I came across this:
And then! AND THEN! I actually completely forgot about the other stage of postpartum hair bonkerness until a couple people suggested it as a topic on Twitter this week — you get these..things? Little weird clumps of wispy flyaway hair along your hairline? Forehead, temples, around your ears, nape of your neck? And they stick out and curl funny and won’t. Lie. Flat. What. The. Hell.
Yep. That’s it EXACTLY.
She has already perfected the “well this is worrisome!” look
Second, I swear I’m having hot flashes or something — at least at night. During the day I’m fine, but every time I wake up at night to feed little miss Emma, I’m drenched in sweat no matter how many or how few items of clothing I may be wearing. Fun times!
Introducing…
16…our daughter!
Emma was born yesterday, August 6, at 5:10 a.m. weighing 6 lb, 5 oz and 19″ long. She decided to come 8 days ahead of her due date, 19 hours after her cousin Lucas and 5 hours before my grandmother’s funeral, which all seems somehow poetic and helped make a sad day a very happy one as well. (Lucas decided to join the world 7 weeks early, but he’s doing great so far!)
I’ll write more about the whole birth experience sometime soon, but all in all everything went really well. I woke up Sunday and spent the morning trying to pretend that everything felt normal. But ultimately around 2:00, I decided that either 1) I had suddenly become incontinent after avoiding that issue during pregnancy thus far or 2) my water had broken and was coming out in small amounts. I’ve heard so many stories of people thinking their water had broken when it was really just pee, but we dutifully headed to the hospital to find out. We checked in around 3 and by 4:30, we were ceremoniously informed that we wouldn’t be leaving that day!
Once your water breaks, doctors generally want the baby out within 24 hours to minimize the risk of infection and since mine was apparently already broken when I woke up that morning at 8:30, I’d already used up some of my “clock.” At first I was told I’d have to go on pitocin around 7:00 but I made enough progress on my own that I got a reprieve until midnight. Around that time, my contractions were starting to get pretty darn painful anyway so I asked for an epidural and the nurse got the pitocin ready to go as soon as the anesthesiologist was done. Turns out, an epidural was all I needed to relax enough to let my body do the rest. I went from 6 to 10 cm in only 2 hours and never had to go on pitocin — yay! But after that came the worst part — 2 hours of 1) having to then let the epidural wear OFF enough to be able to push (annoying) and 2) then being told NOT to push because the on-call doctor wasn’t there yet (MEGA annoying).
By the time Emma was born, I think most of the epidural had worn off because, well, it was not exactly fun. But the reward outweighed all the pain and I will never forget seeing the doctor hold up our little girl and then put her on my chest as she breathed (and cried) for the first time. Jose and I debated a lot about what she’d look like, but for now it looks like Jose’s genes totally won out. She’s got his squishy cheeks, cute squinty eyes, and a TON of dark hair. She’s still adjusting to the world I’m sure, but for a 1-day-old she is eating — and pooping! — like a champ.
Yep, I think we’ll keep her.
Maternity Photos
5So it’s August. Otherwise known as the month that I will have a baby. HOLY. CRAP.
A couple weeks ago, Jose and I met up with friend-of-a-friend Jen from Two Feet Four Feet Photography to do a short maternity photo session! She sent over the final files yesterday so I’m sharing a few of my favorites.
I am definitely not a model and generally feel pretty darn awkward — especially when I’m trying to do some oh-so-casual poses. But I’m really happy that we sucked it up and did these. The last time we had nice photos taken was our wedding!
It’s a shame that we only get all dolled up for fancy photos when there’s a major life event, right? I’ve since made a mental note to schedule a family photo session at least every year or so from now on!
38 Weeks
4So, um, yeah. Only a couple weeks to go. WOW. It’s kind of nerve-wracking because every day, the waiting game gets a little more real. Will it be today? Or today? Or today? Or are we still 3 weeks away? I have this idea — based on absolutely NOTHING — that she’s going to arrive early. But who really knows!
I’m happy to report that according to my doctor there has been some progress in the “baby egress zone” despite the fact that I’ve had exactly zero contractions. Is it possible to have a baby without having contractions? Because that would be nice.
Size of the Baby: The size of a pumpkin — which seems like an extremely variably-sized vegetable, but whatever. She’s probably closing in on 7 pounds at this point. My doctor decided last week to send me for another ultrasound to get an idea of how much she weighs, so we get to see baby girl tomorrow! Yay!
Weight gain/loss: 30 pounds. Joy. Last week according to the doctor, I’d actually lost a pound but that’s basically the difference between having been weighed in the afternoon at my 36 week appointment and getting weighed first thing in the morning last week.
(Apparently I like wearing this shirt on Tuesdays — see 30 weeks and 35 weeks.)
Maternity clothes: I’m bored of them all. And some of them don’t fit any more. Blah.
Sleep: I’m sleeping pretty well! For a few nights there, I thought my wake-up-to-pee frequency was going to increase to twice a night, but it didn’t last and overall, I’m feeling about as well-rested as can be expected. It would help if I didn’t keep having 7 a.m. telecons and meetings — especially since now I’m up until at least 11 watching the Olympics.
Movement: She has been crazy active the past couple nights and it’s still kind of amazing how much she can make my belly poke out. She’s got some tiny muscles for sure. I’m curious to find out tomorrow during the ultrasound whether my suspicions are right about where her butt and legs are resting, since there are definite body parts situated in certain areas.
Food cravings: Cherry limeade. And heartburn has returned, much to my chagrin.
Best moment this week? We did basically NOTHING on Saturday except watch the Olympics but I didn’t feel guilty at all — in fact, I rather enjoyed it because hey, it could’ve been our last weekend as a family of two!
What I miss: Nothing really, although I am getting excited for a margarita and a turkey sandwich. I’ve been avoiding deli meat the whole pregnancy even though I think the chances of me getting listeria are basically zilch. Contrast this with the fact that I still eat bites of cookie dough despite the raw egg in it, and I still take sips of Jose’s beer when he has one. I know. I’m completely inconsistent. The things you get paranoid about when pregnant…
What I’m looking forward to: The ultrasound tomorrow, and then of course meeting her for real at some point in the very near future. We are both getting really curious to find out what she looks like! Will she get light eyes and light hair, or brown eyes and black hair? I hope she gets Jose’s smile, even though I know we’ll have to wait a bit before she smiles voluntarily.
The (very pink!) pack-n-play, courtesy of Alex and Krystle!
Milestones: So, she’s basically fully cooked and just getting fatter…and I think we are pretty much ready for her arrival! Sure, I still have some things to do in the nursery and a couple things to open and set up (like her swing), but if she came tonight we’ve really got everything we need. The car seat is ready to go. My hospital bag (or, as Jose calls it, our bug-out bag) is packed except for last minute items like my glasses. I ordered the last couple large items we wanted (like a pump and a baby monitor) to take advantage of some registry completion discounts. We set up the pack-n-play that Jose’s brother gave us, since we think she’ll probably sleep in that in our bedroom for the first few weeks at least. And we even bought another pack of diapers at the grocery store on Sunday so we can be sure we have enough for at least the first several days at home.
37 Weeks
2Full term! Yaaay! It feels both exciting and kinda surreal to have come this far.
Size of the Baby: The size of a winter melon. Again with the melons! I asked my doctor last week if she had any estimate of weight at this point, and she said probably 6-6.5 pounds. No wonder my pelvic bones are starting to ache. I think the extra weight I’m carrying is finally starting to get to me in the form of aches, soreness, and general fatigue when I’ve had a particularly active day.
Weight gain/loss: 28-29 pounds by my count which officially makes me the heaviest I’ve ever been by a couple pounds. With only a few weeks to go, I’m pretty much over it at this point since 1) I’m likely to stay under a 35 pound gain which was one of my goals and 2) no matter what happens, the weight will start to go down soon after she is born!
Maternity clothes: I’m getting tired of my current wardrobe. And a couple of my bottoms (a pair of shorts and a pair of capris) are getting a little tight. Good thing I’m nearing the end because it seems silly to buy any more clothes at this point!
Sleep: It’s decent. Better than a few weeks ago, but worse than last week. I wake up once a night like clockwork around 3 or 4 am to go to the bathroom, but I’m feeling pretty lucky that it’s only once!
Movement: I think she’s finally slowing down, presumably because she’s getting so cramped in there. I still feel her move a lot, but not the full-belly jabs and spasms that I was feeling a few weeks ago. I’m pretty sure I’ve identified where both her butt and at least one of her feet are generally situated because she pushes them against my belly at regular intervals.
Food cravings: Cherrrrry limeaaaaade. Yep, still. It’s kind of appalling how many times I have been to Sonic lately. On the plus side, I even got a free one last week since it inexplicably took them like 15 minutes to get me one little ol’ drink.
Best moment this week? On Friday, my coworkers took Jose and me out to lunch for a mini baby shower, which was great! My coworkers are all pretty awesome. They gave us a couple great gifts, and I even got these fun girl balloons to decorate my desk. Yesterday I came in to find the normal balloons all droopy after the weekend, by the mylar balloons are still floating strong!
(In theory, I am going to clean up my desk before I go on maternity leave. We’ll see if that actually happens.)
The other best moment this week was the “date night” Jose and I had on Saturday night to celebrate some good things happening for him at work. We had a great dinner at Landry’s in Kemah and as a bonus, discovered a Hawaiian shave ice place there as well. Mmm, shave ice. So tasty!
What I miss: Not hobbling around. In the past week or two, I’ve definitely felt an increase in…pelvic pressure, I guess I’d call it? My butt starts to ache after sitting for a while, and when I stand up my pelvic bone? aches for a bit until I get loosened up. I guess it’s my pelvic bone anyway. I don’t really know. I just have weird aches in the baby region!
What I’m looking forward to: Meeting our baby! I am getting super curious to know what she looks like.
My friend and coworker Erin is coming back from maternity leave tomorrow and I’m excited to see her too. In addition to the niceness of just having her back in the office, she can tell me all about life with a newborn!
Milestones: When I googled “37 weeks,” it popped up an interesting article that indicates that over the past couple weeks, the baby has developed sensitivity to pain — i.e. they can specifically feel pain and not just general sensation. I wonder if the birth process is painful for them at all? Seems like a lot of squeezing. Yet another reason they come out crying, I guess.
Still haven’t had any contractions — Braxton Hicks or otherwise.
In other news, Jose thinks I am nesting. Ha! Well, I probably am. It feels like there is a ton to get done before she arrives and even though realistically I know we would be totally fine if she arrived tomorrow, I’m hoping we have 2 more solid weekends to go before D-Day! We did start packing a hospital bag over the weekend, so at least that’s (almost) in order.
36 Weeks
2So my friend Kelly is at the hospital RIGHT NOW because she had her daughter this morning! Eeee! I’m super excited about that, but it also makes me realize that I am officially the next person I know in line to have a baby. For months, there’s been someone else in my circle of friends due before me. Not anymore!
Hard to believe there is just under a month — give or take — to go before baby girl arrives.
Size of the Baby: A honeydew melon! (Again with the melons. Yuck.) She’s around her final length of 18-20 inches and probably closing in on 6 pounds.
Weight gain/loss: About 27 pounds by my count. My doctor moved to a new office and they have a fancy new digital scale. Guess what? It weighs me 4-5 pounds heavier than my scale at home, which of course is even “better” than the 2-3 pounds more that the scale at her old office did. So according to them, I had gained 31 pounds as of last week. Awesome.
Either way though, she hasn’t said a thing this whole time so I’m obviously way more sensitive about my pregnancy weight than my doctor is. I figure that means I’m in the “obsessing-like-a-typical-girl-but-otherwise-totally-fine” category.
36 Weeks!
Maternity clothes: I got a new dress that I’d ordered from Zulily weeks ago and forgotten about. (That’s the side effect of Zulily. I forget I’ve ordered things by the time they arrive.) I got to wear it yesterday and best part, again, is that it’s not actually a maternity dress so I’ll be able to continue wearing it after next month. Gotta love the amount of empire waist clothes available these days.
Sleep: For the past several nights, I’ve actually slept pretty darn soundly! Yaaaaay!
Movement: The internet keeps telling me that baby’s movements will become less frequent as she runs out of wiggle room, but let’s just say I have not experienced that yet…at all. It’s a different kind of movement than it used to be, but she is most definitely squirming around in there — and she’s getting stronger. My guess is that at the moment, her butt is on the top right side of my belly and her arms and legs stretch out to the left because I feel a lot more pushing on the left side than the right.
Food cravings: Same stuff as always — cold drinks like iced decaf coffee or diet cherry limeade. Not much heartburn again this week either, which is great!
Best moment this week? Jose and I met a photographer/friend-of-a-friend over in Seabrook last night for some maternity photos! Aside from the mosquitoes, we had a really fun time and I’m excited to see how they turn out. It’s really a shame that the only time people get nice photos done is at their wedding and when they’re having a baby. We both made mental notes to schedule a family photo session every year or so!
What I miss: Nothing new — running, margaritas, etc. But I’m content to continue missing those things for a while longer. No big deal.
What I’m looking forward to: Dinner with some friends tonight, a baby shower lunch with my coworkers on Friday, and hopefully meeting Kelly and John’s new baby girl sometime soon!
Milestones: The only organ that still needs a bit of maturing is the lungs. Cool! And at my appointment last week, my doctor also determined that she is head down, which was very nice to hear.
The internets repeatedly imply that I should be experiencing all these awful symptoms at this point, or that I should basically feel like a whale. “Many women nine months pregnant are dealing with swelling, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, back and sciatic pain, along with constant poking in your ribs.” I’m happy to report that aside from minor swelling and some definite poking, I’m in good shape. I feel pretty darn good overall and if my belly didn’t keep getting in the way, I’d probably forget I was pregnant.
In other preparation news, we picked up the dresser for the baby’s room on Sunday afternoon — big thanks to our friend Jason for helping us get it home! — so we officially have everything we need for the nursery. (Except for the awesome rug that turned out to be backordered, and won’t be here till August or September. Oh well.) I started putting things away that evening, but paused to let Jose replace the light fixture with a ceiling fan/light combo. That process is taking a bit longer than we expected since we spent a lot of time double/triple/quadruple checking the structural and electrical setup. We ran out of daylight on Sunday evening and were busy with photos last night, so hopefully we can finish it tonight.
And finally, we met with a pediatrician yesterday to see her office and ask some basic questions. We liked her a lot, and our only real hesitation is that she’s a really popular doctor! That’s not really a problem, since it obviously means people like her, but it does mean you usually have to wait to see her and if you make an appointment last minute, you’ll probably see one of the other doctors in the practice. We already had another appointment set up with another recommended pediatrician next week, so we’ll go meet him too and then pick one.
35 Weeks
3So. Seriously. How am I at 35 weeks already? Although I hope she stays put for 5 more weeks, it’s rapidly dawning on me that I could have a baby pretty much any day now. Good thing we “graduated” from baby class last night. Heh.
35 weeks! For fun, you can compare to 30 weeks when I was wearing the same outfit.
Size of the Baby: She’s the size of a coconut and somewhere between 18-20 inches long — which is basically her full “height” for now. She likely weighs more than 5 pounds at this point. I won’t have another ultrasound, so all the stats are just a guess anyway.
Weight gain/loss: Total gain of 26 pounds. Thankfully the rate has slowed back to a more normal 1 lb/week after some big jumps a few weeks ago. Still getting puffy hands and feet occasionally, but it hasn’t gotten any worse so that’s good.
Maternity clothes: I keep wanting to buy something new, but then I remind myself that I’ve got less than 2 months to go and I have enough to get by until then. Although yesterday I wore a button-down maternity shirt…and decided that my belly has outgrown it. Yikes.
Sleep: Still crappy. Still annoying. Still my biggest/only complaint at the moment.
Movement: This little girl is taking the alien-inside-my-belly thing to a whoooole new level. I’m pretty sure she is bruising some internal organs with all her squirming. The other day she was pushing repeatedly into my side and I was pushing back in an attempt to get her to knock it off since it was uncomfortable. I swear I felt a foot. Or an elbow. Or a knee. Whatever it was, it was SOMETHING POINTY.
I’m also pretty curious to know how she’s situated in there. Hopefully my doctor can tell me tomorrow if she’s head up or head down.
Food cravings: I recently picked up Starbucks for Melissa and me after an early morning meeting. She got an iced caramel macchiato, which inspired me to try the same, and ever since I’ve wanted either an iced coffee or my standard diet cherry limeade every day. Mmm.
The heartburn I complained about last week has improved a lot and has been almost nonexistent this week. Yay!
Best moment this week? Although I teleworked last Thursday and Friday, the fact that I didn’t actually go into the office made it feel almost like I had a 5-day vacation! I watched a lot of Tour de France, finished some projects, ran some errands, enjoyed time with Jose, and just had a nice week.
What I miss: So the one big pregnancy thing I haven’t experienced yet and actually wouldn’t mind feeling (at this point anyway) are Braxton Hicks contractions. Maybe this is a good thing, but I have to admit I’m kind of curious to know what they feel like and get a small preview of what’s to come.
What I’m looking forward to: I am feeling pretty overwhelmed by our to-do list and to be honest, I’m a little shell-shocked by the realization that we only have a few weeks left as a family of two. But I am also really, really, REALLY starting to look forward to meeting our little girl!!
Milestones: Baby is basically done with physical development and is mainly just gaining weight from now on. Cool! As for me, I’m still feeling great, if a little tired. My back and groin have started to feel a little achy in the last week, especially at the end of days when I’m mostly just sitting at my desk. But nothing awful.
What is this thing in my new car?
In other news, Jose installed the car seat base in the new Highlander on Sunday! (We tested it out with the seat, but then took the seat back inside for now.) It took about 2 minutes. You always hear that car seats are hard to install, but…um, there really wasn’t much to it? All cars made since 2002 have this LATCH system thing, and the car seat base has two clips that just clip onto the metal anchors in the seat. That’s all there is to it. Not really sure how you could do it wrong.
(Now that I’ve said that, someone will probably notice that we did something wrong.)
The glider that my parents bought us came in, but we’re still waiting on the ottoman and dresser. They said 7-14 days, so I’m expecting both of them to arrive sometime this week. I’m getting a little anxious to finish off the nursery but until the dresser arrives, I’ve got nowhere to put anything.
I’ve also been plotting out my maternity leave in earnest, which is kind of confusing. I am super lucky to be able to take a full 12 weeks of maternity leave, nearly all of which will be paid. (And really, the only reason that a small portion of it has to be unpaid is so that I can save enough leave to take time off at Thanksgiving and Christmas.) I am also really lucky to have a husband who will be able to take generous paternity leave. He’s planning on 3 or 4 weeks at minimum. Still, one would think that no one at NASA has ever had a baby before based on the number of different answers I get to the same questions!
Baby Shower in Houston
0On Saturday, I was treated to baby shower #2 by my friends here in Houston! Jen and Cari did an awesome job hosting and I had a lovely afternoon thanks to all my great friends.
There was lots of tasty food, including this awesome rocket cake and a hilarious melon baby made by Jen. She even had a separate fruit salad just for me since I am a well known anti-melon crusader. Aww.
Baby Girl got a lot of great things, including this diaper/bib motorcycle made by Liz. It’s too cool to take apart so soon, so it’s currently sitting on our mantle and will be moved to the baby room once the rest of the furniture arrives.
Debbie provided a pink and white monster truck toy. I’m assuming this is intended to get baby girl ready for a trip to Vegas to see monster trucks with Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jason while Mom and Dad go on vacation. Right Debbie??
Kelly and Melissa won the “most creative packaging” award by pinning a variety of onesies, bibs, and other baby supplies to a clothesline. I started pulling it out of the bag and things just kept coming! By the end, it stretched around the room. Next time I go to a baby shower, I am totally stealing this idea.
One of the best parts, of course, was that the shower was scheduled so that my mom could attend. It was fun to have her there to see/meet all my friends. She’ll be back again in a short 6 weeks or so to meet her granddaughter!
34 Weeks
2Size of the Baby: Same as a butternut squash. Mmm. Somewhere around 4.5 pounds and 18 inches long. Even though I know the measurement is from head to toe, and she has her legs curled up, it’s still hard to imagine there’s a baby that big in there sometimes. (But then when I see myself in a mirror, not so hard to imagine!)
Weight gain/loss: 25 pounds. I’m happier about it this week, since that means I only gained 1 pound! I haven’t had quite as much swelling in my feet this week either, which I attribute mostly to the fact that the temperature cooled off ever-so-slightly. Still, it’s encouraging to see that I’m not retaining too much fluid.
Maternity clothes: I found a pair of khaki work pants! Hooray! Stalking the Gap website — since that’s the only place I’ve managed to find work pants that both fit well and look good — finally paid off.
Sleep: Still annoying. C’est la vie.
Movement: She’s still moving a lot, but the jabs and pokes have become more rare as she starts to run out of room in there. Instead, it feels more like she’s stretching or rolling and pushing on me as she does. The other new sensation is that she really does get a good shot to my bladder every once in a while. THAT’S fun.
Food cravings: Nothing special. My biggest food-related complaint is that I’ve started to have heartburn on a daily basis — sometimes even when I’m just drinking water. I will consider myself lucky to have avoided this common pregnancy symptom until now, since it’s pretty annoying! Thankfully it’s been fairly mild and usually goes away if I chew a couple Tums or drink a bit of milk. I’m hoping it will go away again if/when the baby drops and my stomach isn’t quite as squished into my esophagus.
Best moment this week? There were many! I loved having my parents visit for 5 days (they left this morning) and although we didn’t do anything big, I enjoyed just hanging out around our house, running errands, and going out to eat. I also had my second baby shower on Saturday, here in Houston with most of my best girlfriends. It was great and I feel lucky to have such good friends! I’ll post some photos from it later this week.
What I miss: A solid night’s sleep, lack of heartburn, margaritas, running — the usual. But no big deal overall.
What I’m looking forward to: Enjoying the Independence Day holiday tomorrow by sleeping late, working on some crafty projects, and hopefully watching some fireworks.
Milestones: Baby girl’s in the final countdown (doo doo doo doooo). She’s still working on her central nervous system and lungs, but if she was born tomorrow she’d be in pretty decent shape overall. As for me, it’s starting to set in that we will have a baby in 6-7 weeks and I have to admit, it’s kind of blowing my mind.
My doctor’s appointment last week was uneventful, as they all have been lately. I get this week off, but next week I go again — and then go back weekly until she’s born! We also had our 5th baby class last night, so there’s only one more to go before we’re “officially ready” (haha) to have a baby. Last night we watched a video of a C-section, which was utterly horrifying AND completely fascinating. Although I’m hoping to avoid a C-section, I have to admit that modern medicine is weird and amazing.
And…drumroll…we’ve officially bought all the furniture we need for the nursery! My parents bought us a glider and ottoman and we finally chose a dresser — both came from Babies R Us. (We are really getting our money’s worth out of the 20% off coupons they give out!) Now to wait until it arrives and then finish off the room!
33 Weeks
3Size of the Baby: About the weight of a pineapple, aka a bit over 4 pounds, and still somewhere around 18 inches. Seems to me that she’s probably pretty close to full length, with a few pounds still to gain before she’s born.
Weight gain/loss: Depressing. I am sitting at 24 pounds gained. One more pound and I will see a nice, round 200 pounds on the scale. There have been a couple other times in my life that I’ve seen a number that starts with “2″ on the scale, and it has never lasted more than a few weeks since 200 pounds turns out to be my breaking point — that number never fails to kick my weight loss motivation into high gear. I had (naively?) hoped to stay under 200 pounds while pregnant, but I knew that would be tough. 7 weeks to go…hopefully I can keep the total weight gain under 35.
I’m also starting to get some regular swelling in my hands and feet. Not too bad, but retaining fluid probably doesn’t help in the weight gain department either, eh?
Maternity clothes: One of my two pairs of work pants is starting to get tight. They have the “demi panel” and it doesn’t fit as well anymore with my belly getting so big. I guess I’ll be wearing a lot of skirts and dresses for the next 7 weeks.
Sleep: I am tired. Sleep is annoying. I wake up every night to pee, but at least it’s only once. I’m getting REALLY tired of just rolling from one side to the other all night long.
Movement: She’s getting stronger and bigger, and she’s starting to cause me discomfort every so often. Over the weekend, she seemed to be resting on a nerve or something, because I kept getting tingly spasms in my upper thigh.
Food cravings: Nothing in particular. I’m still thirsty ALL the time.
Best moment this week? Last night in baby class we got a tour of the hospital, which I had been looking forward to. This came right after a video on epidurals, which kind of freaked me out — not because of the needle or anything like that, but rather the long list of possible (though rare) side effects. Lists of possible side effects always freak me out.
Anyway, so I was still thinking about irrational things like getting paralyzed from a bad epidural (which is all but physically impossible, according to the nurse anesthetist and dad-to-be who happens to be in our class) when we walked across to the hospital. We saw the labor rooms and the C-section area and the nursery and the postpartum rooms and after that I felt a lot better. We also saw several very cute babies, including one that was literally about 5 minutes old. It all made me very excited to see my own baby, even if I am still in slight denial that she can’t just magically pop out of my body and into the world.
(One random observation: the labor rooms are bigger and nicer than the postpartum rooms. Shouldn’t they reverse this? After all, I’ll be in the labor room for <24 hours and will be pretty distracted during that time by, you know, being in labor. But I’ll be spending 48-72 hours in the postpartum room. Seems like it’d be better to spend more time in the bigger, nicer room! Oh well.)
What I miss: Sub-100 degree weather. For real. I’m melting over here.
What I’m looking forward to: My parents left Charlotte this morning and will be here tomorrow for a 6-day visit! And my Houston baby shower is this weekend! I am excited for that.
Milestones: More bone hardening, more brain development, more sucking and swallowing practice. And just hanging out, waiting to be born!
In terms of us being ready, I am starting to feel crunched for time with a very long to-do list! But I know we’ll handle things fine even if we don’t dot every i and cross every t…right??
Recent Comments