February 3 (35w2d): Major nursery day. Last night Michael assembled the crib. It's huge. It's way bigger than we thought it would be, which means it takes up a lot more room than we thought it would. Hmmm. So we try setting the room up the way Michael had envisioned it, then the way I had envisioned it. Nothing quite works. Michael suggested swapping the armoire with the books shelf and voila - it works. I love it. It is perfect. So we spend the bulk of the rest of the day assembling things - who knew it was so hard to change crib sheets and that crib bumpers could be so contusing! But we get the crib all set up, even the mobile, and then Michael puts the cat tent on the crib. While it doesn't look as good as without, I feel so much better knowing the crib is safe form the cat!
While Michael is assembling various things, I washed all of the baby's clothes and got them all ready to put away. They are just so cute and little. It's hard to imagine that the baby will be here so soon and I'll be dressing the baby in these very clothes. I also washed down my old rocking chair and bedside table that my mom had given me for the babies room.
The nursery is looking great if I do say so myself :-) I am so happy with it, I was a little nervous it would look hodge podge but it all came out so much better than I even imagined. The stacking boxes my mom sent look adorable, and the bedding does go with the wall color which I had been so worried about. I'll have to take some digital pictures soon!
We decided to run out to Babies R Us and exchange some stuff and buy some of the stuff we still needed. Since it's Superbowl Sunday the place is deserted - perfect. We got just about everything we needed, including the changing pad for the dresser and bottles and pumps and a tub, a little baby needs so much! I guess they are discontinuing the bedding line I bought so I also got a steal on the matching lampshade. Too cute.
February 6 (35w5d): What a night. Maverick was sprayed by a skunk tonight. All I can say is that I have never smelled anything like this before in my life. It was completely nasty. So much worse than drive-by skunk smell. This is more burnt and acrid. Of course this happens at 11 at night, so we were up half the night bathing Maverick and trying to do something about the smell. Michael had to run out to CVS to buy hydrogen peroxide to make the anti-skunk bath the emergency vet told us about.
It felt like a waking nightmare, I wished there was someway we could go back and time and have this not have happened Both of us just want to cry. Just when I thought we were getting ahead on the house and the nursery was finally all set, this happens. My house reeks!
February 7 (35w6d): I had my doctor's appointment today, with my OB who I feel like I haven't seen in ages. Things started out good, I only gained 2 pounds in the past 3 weeks which is excellent. So my weight gain is about 37 pounds right now and I would love to stay under 40 pounds. My BP was nice and low at 104/68. I was measuring good and the baby's heart rate continues to be 150 and nice and strong. The doctor thinks the baby is head down based on where she found the heartbeat but they will determine that for sure at the next appointment. My doctor was great and answered all my questions that I had about the birth itself and some of the procedures/protocols. I'm still nervous, but feeling somewhat better.
The bad news is that I am still spilling sugar into my urine sample. So I need to go back for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test to see if I have developed gestational diabetes since I barely passed the test last time. It;'s just so frustrating after making all these drastic changes to my diet as well. And I am terrified the baby will be huge! My belly is definitely huge! Sigh. So after I left the doctor's office I had a mild breakdown driving on 128. When I finally got to my office I called Michael form the parking lot and he calmed me down. I know there is so much else that could go wrong and this isn't the biggest deal but it still feels overwhelming. I just want the baby to be healthy. The stress of last night wasn't helping any and whenever I would think about the baby and having a smelly house I would start to cry again. I really can't believe my blood pressure was so low this morning considering the night I had last night. No one at the OB's mentioned that I smelled funny, but I felt very self conscious and like I was radiating skunk smell.
But wonderful husband that he is Michael said he would come with me again tomorrow for the 3 hour test. It's just so tedious and boring.
February 8 (36w0d): Spent the whole morning at the hospital for the 3 hour glucose test. It seemed to take so much longer this time. Probably because I am just so uncomfortable these days. But ever so slowly the time passes and 4 blood draws later we are free. I am so happy - and now I can eat. The fasting may be the worst. And the lab techs were eating cinnamon rolls.....how cruel!
Found out today Michael got an interview at Cornell. This is great news, but the timing is so bad. The week he is going I will be 38 weeks - full term. The baby really could come any day. I am terrified the baby will come while he is away. I guess we'll just have to hope for the best and that the baby wants to stay put for awhile. My guess is s/he does - s/he is well wedged up in my ribs. The kicks and movements up there really feel like s/he is pushing my rib out. It's sort of fascinating, and I think Michael is sometimes shocked how hard my belly gets and how you can really feel the foot sticking into my rib or the baby's rear end sticking out to one side of my stomach. It;s weird but cool.
February 9 (36w1d): Birth Class
February 11 (36w3d): GD
February 13 (36w1d): Diabetic nurse
February 14 (36w6d) Valentine's day
February 16 (37w1d) orleans
February 17 (37w2d) carrie
February 18 (37w3d) cornell
February 19 (37w4d): I am definitely on my last nerve here. I would love a vacation. I regret that Michael and I didn't make time for one last vacation together this fall - somewhere warm and tropical sounds so nice right now. Since Michael is off of work this week he came to have lunch with me. When I was getting out of the car somehow, I really have no idea how, but I slammed the door right on my finger. At first I thought it was just a little slam and the finger was just sore. But when I looked down there was blood everywhere. I must have hit the door right n the fingernail which was no deeply cracked and oozing blood everywhere. Unbelievable. I started to cry, more just form the sight of the blood and it was just the last thing I needed right now. The pain wasn't that bad I was just so tired and frustrated and didn't want to deal with this. Of course Michael was great as always and quieted me down and cleaned up my hands and finger. What would I do without him?
It took all my energy to go back to work after that, I was just in a funk. But I made it through the rest of the day. Though I did bag my la Leche meeting tonight - I just was not up for that. Michael made me a yummy dinner instead. What a great guy!
February 20 (37w5d): I was nervous we wouldn't make it to the breastfeeding class when I originally scheduled it since it was so close to my due date - but here we are! I don't have a doll to bring to the class, so I bring a teddy bear - I feel better when I see other women with teddy bears too. The class was very informative, but a little scary as well. It seems like it should be so natural and easy but in reality from the class and what I have heard form fiends it is actually a lot of work. So we'll see how it goes. It was great that Michael came with me, so now he understands how hard it can be and I know he will be wonderfully supportive. Plus it's fun to go through all of this together.
My friend Tricia had her baby! Aiden Patrick was born today 6 pounds 11 ounces! I am so happy for her and her husband Brian. I can't wait to hear all about it form her. We've really had a good time going through our pregnancies together and chatting about everything. It's hard to believe that now she is mom and I am still pregnant. It does make it so much more real since her due date was 2 days before mine and her baby is already here!
February 22 (38w0d): Finally had my doctor's appointment today. Since Michael was off of work this week he came with me - such a good husband! I feel like it has been forever. I've been so nervous about the diabetes and have been wanting to know what my doctor is thinking about the birth and what special precautions they might take. Everything looks good, my weight has been stable last 3 appointments - must be the low carb low sugar diet! So I am still under 40 pound weight gain which is good. BP was 104/78 so still nice and low so no worries there. And the best initial news was that there was no sugar spilling into my urine this time - that means the diet is definitely working. Yay!
Then we met with the doctor and heard the baby's heartbeat - this time it was in the 130s, slower since it had been in the 150s my whole pregnancy. But the doctor said that was normal and as long as the heartbeat is above 120 it's ok. My uterus was measuring right on for 38 weeks, another good sign since some gestational diabetes babies will measure big. Had an internal exam and I'm starting to dilate 1-2 cm now and 30% effaced. Baby is head down as well which is very good news. I had suspected as much since I get constant kicks in my ribs!
Because of the gestational diabetes my doctor said they won't let me go past my due date. So I am hoping the baby comes on its own before then since I really don't want to be induced. My doctor had me schedule an ultrasound for next week before my appointment so they can check out the baby and see how big it is. I am so excited - can't wait to see the baby again! And then at the appointment on Wednesday we'll make a game plan on how to proceed based on the baby's size. My doctor did say she doesn't think this is a 6 pounder - meaning she thinks its a big baby! *sigh*
After my appointment Michael took me for lunch - hamburgers and onion rings! I like this high protein diet :-) At lunch another pregnant woman sat at the seat next to me and we were talking and it turned out she has the same due date as me. She looked at my belly, then looked at hers and said "You are so much bigger than me!" Thanks lady. Good grief.
Later that afternoon I had some bleeding which I attributed to the exam - I knew that was normal but it was still a bit scary. Luckily it stopped later that night. As long as I feel the baby kicking I feel like everything is OK. Hopefully it is!
February 23 (38w1d): Since I wasn't feeling great last night, Michael and I postponed our movie plans until this morning. We went to Wild Oats and Starbucks to get some things for breakfast, came home, ate and did some stuff around the house and then took off for the movies. We hadn't been since we saw Lord of the Rings over Christmas. We went to see A Beautiful Mind which was a really great movie. We just had a great time and decided if the baby hasn't shown up by next weekend we'd do the same thing next Saturday.
We had a very nutritious lunch of popcorn so I opted not to take my blood sugar :-) After the movie we went to the mall to finish some shopping that had gotten cut short yesterday. We were going to get Michael new glasses but it seemed that everyone was buying glasses - all the places were packed. Oh well, but we did get most of our errands done, even got a camera bag so we can take our digital camcorder to the hospital - very important stuff!
Had a lazy night, got take out from Sun's Cafe - sushi, yum! Not raw though of course. Michael and I just kind of spent the evening hanging out, enjoying our time together before the baby gets here.
February 24 (38w2d): Had an early morning - up at 7! Good grief this is earlier than I get up to go to work. Just some mornings after the baby wakes me up to go to the bathroom I can not get back to sleep. So I just hang out, had some breakfast and read the paper until Michael got up. Then we quickly finished cleaning up the house before my Aunt Sharry and Mary Rita came over. Now the house is just about set for the baby - most things have found a new home, just a few last piles to sort through, but a big improvement! I really wasn't sure we'd make it given our slow start.
Had a good visit with Aunt Sharry and Mary Rita - good conversation and some tea. The brought pictures form the baby shower - they came out so cute, I was so happy since I had been bummed that I didn't have a camera with me since it was a surprise.
After they left Michael and I finally decided we would get our belly cast done. It was quite the undertaking - I won't go into too much detail, but it came out pretty cool. Not surprising since Michael is such a perfectionist. He really did a great job dealing with all the plaster strips and mess. I didn't do such a great jobs standing there for 45 minutes though. At the end he pretty much had to rip it off me because I was about to pass out - I was nauseous and dizzy and my ears were plugged Very odd, must have been just standing on my feet in one spot and the extra weight of the plaster. It did take a lot of work to get all the vaseline and plaster residue of though - quite a mess but well worth it - I will need to post a picture when it dries.
February 25 (38w3d): Called the triage nurse today just to let her know what had happened with the spotting and everything this weekend and she said it was all normal and just pre-labor signs. SO I guess that is good! I really can't believe how soon this baby could be here. I have a feeling it will be soon. There is a full moon this week so you never know! If it is this week I hope it is the 28th - all of the big dates in Michael's and my life's has an 8 in it so that would be perfect. Or the baby has to wait until March 8th!
Baby is still kicking and pushing on my ribs- I know I am really going to miss this feeling. Even when it feels like the baby is stretching my skin beyond its limits. The baby really sticks its heel or butt way out into my right side. It's rather freaky to see. I just can't believe the baby will be here so soon, I am so anxious to see what s/he looks like, and especially to know BOY or GIRL!!
Having lots of cramps so hopefully these are all good signs. I'm working hard to get things finished at work so I won't have to worry about it for 12 weeks and just focus on the baby!
February 26 (38w4d): Had our ultrasound tonight. I couldn't really see much of anything, the earlier ultrasounds we had were so much clearer. But the baby seems to be measuring right on, though the US machine gave my due date as 3/10 rather than my 3/8 but not enough discrepancy to worry about. The machine also says the baby is 8 lbs! Given that there is about a 2 lb margin of error I am terrified of the 10 lb baby. What can we do at this point? The tech printed some pictures for us - two profiles and one top view of the face. I'm worried b/c I don't think the profile is all that attractive, and of course the top down skeleton view is freaky as ever. Oh well, we'll know soon enough what this little one looks like :-)
February 27 (38w5d): Had my 38 week OB appointment this morning. Looks like the ultrasound last night showed that my amniotic fluid levels were high - so they wanted to do a non-stress test on the baby. They hooked me up to the machine - which measures contractions and the baby's heartrate and then I push a button and indicate when I feel the baby kick. Of course I wasn't having any contractions and the baby was asleep. So I had to drink lots of water, lie on my side and poke the baby and s/he finally woke up. After about 45 minutes or so they said all looked good. I had the exam - still only dilated 2 cm. I was disappointed b/c I had hoped all these cramps and spotting had been signs of labor and I would go to the hospital at least 5 cm dilated. Oh well! But the baby's heartbeat was good and strong at 150 and I had actually enjoyed the non-stress test, getting to listen to his/her little heartbeat all that time. Everything else was good - my weight gain was still the same so I had gained 38 pounds total thus far - a pound a week, not too bad I guess. The GD diet really stopped the gain, I guess I should at least be grateful for that. BP was still good and low 104/68 and no more spilling sugar so all seems under control.
Stopped at Finagle a Bagel for a Cobb salad and then went to work. Right after lunch I started getting cramps. Didn't pay them much mind since I'd had them on and off since the weekend. Then one hit that made me get up out of my chair and walk around until the pain subsided. Hmmm, these were different and wrapped all the way around my back, unlike regular menstrual cramps which were more in front. Only later would I find out this was the infamous "back labor". I wasn't sure what these cramps were though I suspected they were contractions. I called Mike and told him, but I could tell he was skeptical and later he admitted he figured they were just more pregnancy aches and pains or gas. Hmmph. I desperately wanted to go home and lie down but I had some stuff to finish at work in case this was "it". So I worked until about 4 when I couldn't take it any more and told Edna I was having bad cramping and was going home - I didn't want tot tell anyone I was havin g contractions in case it was false labor. On the way home I timed the pains and they seemed to be anywhere form 3 to 8 minutes apart.
Once I got home I just put on some comfy clothes and worked on packing my hospital bag while I waited for Michael to get home. Once he got home he made me dinner - stuffed shells. Even though they probably weren't on my diabetes diet the birth class instructor had said to load up on carbs so we'd have the stored energy for labor. Around 7 I started timing the contractions and they really had no definitive pattern. They'd be anywhere form 3-8 minutes apart and last for 30 to 90 seconds. Wasn't much else to do so I watched Ed, West Wing and Law and Order. By 11 I had had enough and decided it was at least worth going to the hospital to get checked out - just so I could know if this was it or if it was false labor. I had a sinking feeling this was it though. The full moon was really working! I really hadn't wanted to go into labor at night after a full day at work - I am just beat already and we have barely begun! I had really wanted some time off to rest before hand and finish cleaning the house - the dining room is a disaster but I really had no desire to clean it before we went to the hospital. So much for nesting!
On the way to the hospital I couldn't stop thinking that this was it - after all of our trips to the hospital, this time was the big one - we were going to have this baby and things would never be the same again.
