My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 39 Weeks

How far along:  39 Weeks, 1 Day

Symptoms:  I feel contractions every now and again but they’re not strong enough or consistent enough to put me into labor. 

Labor Progress (Dilation and Effacement):   My 39 week appointment was today and we got the AMAZING news that I’m now 2cm dilated, therefore, WE CAN INDUCE.  We have set the date.  We will check into the hospital Monday morning at 5am.  Less than 48 hours from now.  OMG.  I have no idea how effaced I am.  When the doc came in we chatted for a bit and I told him I really wanted to induce and he said “Alrighty, let’s see if that’s possible”.  Then he checked me and as soon as he was done he said “which day works for you next week??”  I was so ecstatic that he was almost out the door before I remembered to ask how dilated I was, but it totally slipped my mind to ask about effacement.  Doesn’t matter to me because all I cared about was being progressed enough that he would induce.  So our sweet boy will be born on October 27, 2014.  It’s a good day….it’s also his Nana’s birthday!

Maternity Clothes:   Pretty much all maternity clothes.  Lately I have actually been sporting yoga pants almost daily with one of Justin’s t-shirts.  Garrett has dropped so much that most of my t-shirts don’t cover the very bottom of my belly so I’ve just been wearing some of Justin’s smaller shirts.

Weight Gain:   Up 34 pounds.  I was hoping to gain less than I did with Carter, but it’s pretty close already.  Gained 36 with him so 34 is pretty darn close.  Even with all the working out and healthier eating, I still gained about as much as I did with Carter (I rarely worked out with him and pretty much ate what I wanted).  It leads me to believe that women’s bodies are all different and no matter what we do, our bodies just need to gain a certain amount of weight to support a baby.  Some women easily only gain 25 pounds, some gain as much as 45-50.  Everyone’s just different.

Sleep:  I was sleeping just fine until last night.  This happened with Carter too.  As soon as I got a date that we were going to have him, I couldn’t turn my brain off at night.  Going through all the things that could happen, everything I packed, wondering if I’m forgetting something.  Literally just spending the entire night making to-do lists in my head.  Last night I got maybe 4 hours of sleep.  Tonight I plan to take a unisom and get as much sleep as possible.

Belly Button:  Still a teeny tiny outtie, but not much at all.  More flat than anything else.

Stretch Marks:  None.

Cravings/Aversions:   Nothing unusual.

Exercise Routine:  Made it 4 days this week.  1 pure barre class and 3 days of walking about 3.5 miles around my neighborhood.  My pure barre package is done now so walking is the only exercise I’ll be doing.  I must say though, at 39 weeks, I feel awesome!  Soooooooooo much better than I did with Carter at 39 weeks. 

Baby Size:  At 39 weeks baby is the size of a watermelon.  YOWZAS!  He’s roughly 20 inches long and about 7 pounds now.

Movement:   He still moves a lot and I am feeling him SO low in my pelvis.  Like, to the point where sometimes during my walks I feel like he’s going to fall out!

Swelling and/or Signs of Labor:  Swelling is still a little bit there, but it’s at a minimum.  I am still wearing my wedding rings-YAY!  Like I mentioned above, I feel contractions but they’re not really intense enough to start labor and it doesn’t really matter anyway because we go in Monday to get him out!

Gender:  I am the queen in my house of boys!

Appointments and Such:   My 39 week appointment was my LAST appointment since we’re inducing.  So the next blogpost you see will be announcing Garrett’s entrance to the world!!!

Bump Pic for Week 39:

My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 38 Weeks

How far along:  38 Weeks, 3 days

Symptoms:  I feel contractions every now and again but they’re not strong enough or consistent enough to put me into labor. 

Labor Progress (Dilation and Effacement):   My 38 week appointment was today.   I’m still 1cm dilated, but this time I was 50% effaced (thinned out).  Doc said that the effacement was caused by me losing my mucus plug.  It also means that I may be more dilated/effaced next time.  Let’s hope so!  The next appointment is when I will find out if my doctor will induce me or not.

Maternity Clothes:   Pretty much all maternity clothes.  Some workout pants and a few t-shirts aren’t maternity, but that’s about it.

Weight Gain:   Up 32 1/2  pounds. 

Sleep:  Still sleeping pretty well to be honest.  Usually wake up once or twice a night to pee but that’s it.  I have been having interruptions to my sleep but they’re not pregnancy related.  Carter has actually decided that he wants to try to potty train himself at night.  See, we potty trained him already a couple of months ago, but like most kids his age, you potty train for the daytime and make them wear underwear but at night they still wear a pullup because it’s unreasonable to expect a 2 year old to “hold it” for 12 hours when we ourselves can’t even do that.  Anyway, he’s decided he doesn’t want to tee tee in his pullup so he wakes up and cries for us to take him to the bathroom.  We’re working on making him stay in the bed and go back to tee tee-ing in his pullup but we’ll see how it goes.  God knows I do NOT need to be woken up a million times a night by a newborn AND by my almost 3 year old!

Belly Button:  Still a teeny tiny outtie, but not much at all.  More flat than anything else.

Stretch Marks:  None.

Cravings/Aversions:   Lately it’s looking like Garrett loves a Krispy Kreme donut.  I can’t get enough of them.  But I do my best to make those indulgences sporadic.

Exercise Routine:  Was only able to workout 3 times this week….VERY busy week for me.  It was 1 Pure Barre classes and I walked 3.5 miles around my neighborhood twice.  It’s starting to feel SO nice outside here so I’m loving those walks.  It’s about to be all I do because I only have one class left of my Pure Barre package and I’m using that tomorrow.  I doubt I will buy another one for a while.  Two kids with a husband out of town all the time….there’s just not great options for me to go to Pure Barre all that frequently.  Which is a shame…I love it there and have developed some great friendships with the instructors and other attendees.

Baby Size:  At 38 weeks, baby is the size of a pumpkin.  How appropriate since it’s fall!!!  Anyway, he’s roughly 6 1/2 - 7  pounds now and about 19-20 inches.  With Carter, my entire family wrote down on one sheet of paper what they thought his stats would be and the time they thought he would come.  Justin’s family won all three-the time, the height and the weight.  Carter was born at 7lbs, 11oz and 20 1/2 inches long.  I don’t think Garrett will be that big.  Not that Carter was big, that’s actually a completely normal stat for a 40 week baby.  I think Garrett will be in the low 7lb range (maybe 7.3 or 7.4) and maybe slightly shorter, like 20 inches instead of 20.5.  That being said, I thought he was a girl, so my momma instincts aren’t working this pregnancy so we shall see.

Movement:   I still feel him move around in there, but he is running out of room so he doesn’t do it all that often.  I am using the fetal doppler a little more these days just to check on him since he doesn’t move as much.  But this is normal at this stage so I’m not worried.

Swelling and/or Signs of Labor:  Still noticing swelling in my fingers every now and again, but not consistently.  Just depends on the day.  Still wearing my rings though.  This week I also noticed some swelling in the feet if I’ve been up and walking around all day.  Again, depends on the day.  If it’s a day where I’m not doing much, there’s no swelling.

Gender:  I am the queen in my house of boys!

Appointments and Such:   Had the 38 week appointment (see above for further progress).  Next appointment is Friday at 8:30am.  This is the mack daddy appointment.  I will find out if my doctor thinks I’m progressed enough to induce at 39 weeks.  If I am, we will induce the following Monday, October 27th.  A whopping 7 days from now.   Eeeeeeeeekkk!!!!  If not, I imagine I will go past my due date again.

Nursery Developments:   DONE!  Justin hung the shelf and some frames on the wall and that was the last thing I needed to do.  I’ll take some pictures soon and add them.

Bump Pic for Week 38:

My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 37 Weeks - FULL TERM!

How far along:  37 Weeks

Symptoms:  Those basic “lightning pains” I discussed last week are still an issue and I assume that they will be ongoing until Garrett’s here.  The best way to describe them is that they’re worse than menstrual cramps, but don’t quite feel like contractions.  But then again, I have no idea what a contraction feels like since I was induced with Carter and was on pain meds basically the entire time.  I know that it’s completely possible to have early stage of labor contractions and not feel them, so maybe that’s what I’m feeling, but there’s just no pattern to them yet.  That’s about it.  No back pains, no miserable aches or comfortableness.  I’m honestly feeling pretty good!

Labor Progress (Dilation and Effacement):   Had my 37 week appointment today and the doc said that Garrett has definitely dropped and I am 1cm dilated.  At this point with Carter I was 1cm and stayed that way for 3 weeks.  Today, the doctor said “it could be tonight or 3 weeks from now” and I was like “yeah I’ve heard that before!!”.  The difference between these pregnancies at this point, however, is that Garrett has dropped into my pelvis and Carter never did that.  When they drop, it puts more pressure on the uterus and the pelvic region and can cause you to dilate faster.  So maybe it won’t be like it was with Carter, but only time will tell.  As soon as I told Justin he was like “freaking pack your hospital bag!”.  So that’s on my to-do list for today.

Maternity Clothes:   Pretty much all maternity clothes.  Some workout pants and a few t-shirts aren’t maternity, but that’s about it.

Weight Gain:   Up 30  pounds.  Doing much better than I was with Carter at this point.  I’m still about 3-4 pounds less than I was with him at 37 weeks. 

Sleep:  Still sleeping pretty well to be honest.  Usually wake up once a night to pee but that’s it.  Cannot believe I’m sleeping this well this far into the game! 

Belly Button:  Still a teeny tiny outtie, but not much at all.  More flat than anything else.

Stretch Marks:  None.

Cravings/Aversions:   Lately it’s looking like Garrett loves a Krispy Kreme donut.  I can’t get enough of them.  But I do my best to make those indulgences sporadic.

Exercise Routine:  This is where I’m starting to slack off for sure.  I still was able to get 4 days this week, but only 1 was pure barre, the other 3 was walking 3 miles around the neighborhood.  Before, I needed no motivation to get up to workout but now I do.  I have to convince myself to do something which is unusual for me.  I’m just really tired now.  Plus I am also trying to convince myself to spend my free time resting on the couch because I know that it will be a long time before I get to do that again!

Baby Size:  At 37 weeks, baby is the size of a Winter Melon.  Again, no idea what that is.  I think the Bump website is stretching for fruits and veggies to compare to.  Anyway, he’s roughly 6 1/2 pounds now and about 19-20 inches. 

Movement:   I still feel him move around in there, but he is running out of room so he doesn’t do it all that often.  I am using the fetal doppler a little more these days just to check on him since he doesn’t move as much.  But this is normal at this stage so I’m not worried.

Swelling and/or Signs of Labor:  Still noticing swelling in my fingers every now and again, but not consistently.  Just depends on the day.  Still wearing my rings though.  No swelling in feet or ankles.

Gender:  I am the queen in my house of boys!

Appointments and Such:   37 week appointment was today.  See above for everything that was said.  I did find out the results to my Group B Strep Test, which were negative.  YAY!  My next appointment is next Friday at 8:45am.  Doc said that if contractions begin to be 5-7 minutes apart within an hour to come in.  And also if my water breaks to come in, which is a given.  I’ve never had to worry about timing contractions before so I downloaded a timing app to my phone so that I could do it wherever I was.  Now I just need to be sure that what I’m feeling is contractions :/

Nursery Developments:   We unfortunately haven’t done much to the nursery since last week, but Justin is off work Monday through Wednesday so I imagine we will finish it one of those days. 

Bump Pic for Week 37:

 

**Excuse the foot hanging out beneath the belly…Carter decided to make an appearance :)

My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 36 Weeks

How far along:  36 Weeks

Symptoms:  No more heartburn issues.  I may have had it happen once in the past two weeks.  Shortness of breath is also gone.  I’ve been having some pains VERY low in my pelvis.  The best way I can describe them is like saying they are “shooting lightning pains”.  It’s painful sometimes, but most of the time just uncomfortable.  It lasts a couple of seconds and then it’s gone, but it happens fairly frequently.  I think he’s beginning to drop and it’s putting more pressure on my pelvis and stretching the uterus down there and that’s what is causing the pains.

Labor Progress (Dilation and Effacement):  At my 36 week appointment, I was 0cm dilated and 0% effaced.  This is kind of what I was expecting at 36 weeks anyway.  Plus I’m happy because Justin’s running his third 100 mile race in Arkansas this weekend so I’d rather not have a baby without him here.  With Carter I didn’t show progress until week 37 at which time I was 1cm and 50% effaced.  Unfortunately that was what I stayed with him until 40 weeks, 1 day when we evicted him. 

Maternity Clothes:   Pretty much all maternity clothes.  Some workout pants and a few t-shirts aren’t maternity, but that’s about it.

Weight Gain:   Up 29 1/2  pounds.  Doing much better than I was with Carter at this point.  I’m about 3-4 pounds less than I was with him at 36 weeks. 

Sleep:  Still sleeping pretty well to be honest.  I am noticing that I’m getting up more to pee in the middle of the night, but I’m always able to fall right back asleep.  I was having such bad back pain with Carter at this point that sleep was impossible.  No back pains, just waking up to pee maybe twice a night. 

Belly Button:  So I was determined that it wouldn’t pop out because it didn’t with Carter.  This week I started noticing it popping out just a tad.  Not much at all, but enough for me to notice.  I doubt it will become an outie like a lot of women’s belly buttons do during pregnancy.

Stretch Marks:  None yet.  Didn’t have any with Carter so I’m hoping it stays that way.

Cravings/Aversions:   Lately it’s looking like Garrett loves a Krispy Kreme donut.  I can’t get enough of them.  But I do my best to make those indulgences sporadic.

Exercise Routine:  Definitely starting to get really tired y’all.  I don’t do P90 workouts anymore, I do Pure Barre classes and I walk around the neighborhood (3 1/2 miles).  The past two weeks I have still managed about 4 days a week of those two things, but I can already tell that my workouts are about to start dwindling.  I’m just so tired now and even the walking is getting difficult because of those pains I mentioned above.

Baby Size:  Sweet boy is now about 6lbs and roughly 20 inches in length.  CRAZY!!!  The bump says that baby is the size of a honeydew.  I have no idea what a honeydew is…

Movement:   I still feel him move around in there, but he is running out of room so he doesn’t do it all that often.  I am using the fetal doppler a little more these days just to check on him since he doesn’t move as much.  But this is normal at this stage so I’m not worried.

Swelling and/or Signs of Labor:  I actually have had some swelling this week in my fingers, but it’s only happened twice and it was at the end of the day after a long day of lots of running around.  I can still wear my wedding rings though, I just noticed that on those days, the rings were a little more snug than normal.  Haven’t noticed any swelling in my feet though and that’s where most of my swelling was with Carter at this point.

Gender:  I am the queen in my house of boys!

Appointments and Such:  Had my 36 week appointment today.  They did the group B strep test which I assume I won’t know the results until next week.  They also checked me and as I expected, I’ve made no progress yet.  My iron is still holding steady around 34 which is about the borderline for when you get put on meds for iron deficiency, but the doc doesn’t think I need it.  I was on medicine for iron deficiency with Carter around 18 weeks so I’m actually shocked I’ve made it this far without needing meds.  Everything else looks good though-weight, blood pressure, urine sample, etc.  My next appointment is next Friday at 37 weeks. 

Nursery Developments:   We have gotten so much more done now that Justin’s back in town until Garrett arrives.  We put up the decal above the crib with Garrett’s name on it and will soon be putting up the collage of picture frames on the other wall.  Once those are done, his room is basically finished.  Yay!  We’ve also gotten out all Carter’s clothes from newborn to 3 months and washed them and hung them up in Garrett’s closet.  We’ve put the pack and play with the bassinet in our bedroom which is where Garrett will sleep until we do the crib transition and we’ve also gotten out most of the toys/playmats he’ll use the first months of his life.  We need to do a big purchase of batteries though.  I forgot how many batteries you need with newborn stuff!  So basically our “to do before Garrett arrives” list is getting shorter and shorter.  FINALLY!!  Though Justin usually finds a way to sneak in a jab every single day that I still haven’t packed the hospital bag.  In my defense, I have made a list of what to pack and have gotten together all of Garrett’s things, I just need to get my things and actually put them in a bag and put it in the car.  Working on it, I promise!

Bump Pic for Week 36:

Bump Pic for Week 35:

It really does look like Garrett has dropped in the top picture.   I guess we’ll see if any progress has been made at the 37 week appointment on Friday.

Another picture I wanted to share…this is me and my sister from the reCreate Women’s Conference that is held by the Church of the Highlands in Birmingham every year.  This was my first year to go and it was AMAZING.  I plan to go every year from now on.  The theme this year was that we are loved unconditionally by our Creator, no matter what we do or the mistakes we make.  He loves us more than we deserve and he will always keep coming back to us.  Anyway, I couldn’t resist buying this tank because I loved it so much.  It says “So Loved”.  What’s funny is that most people (not at the conference) have seen me wear this shirt and they say “oh how adorable is that!!!” because they think that the baby in my belly is so loved and that it’s for pregnancy.  While I certainly do love Garrett unconditionally, God’s love for him is way more than my fragile humanly love so I always have to explain what the shirt really means. 

Since my appointments are now weekly, I will probably start doing posts weekly.  So check back next Friday and hopefully I’ll have time to post after my appointment is over.