January 1 (30w4d): Had a very restful and lazy start to the new year. We pretty much lounged around all day reading and watching bad TV movies. A great way to spend the day. Of course I was reading birth books which can be scary at times and I did watch a good amount of TLC's Maternity Ward and Labor and Delivery as well. I like the shows because I feel they do give me a better sense of what to expect and it's interesting to see how women cope with labor differently, but there are way too many emergency c-sections and premature babies. It's scary. Seeing babies born at 28 weeks and knowing the baby inside me is even bigger than that is a very weird feeling. Those babies are so tiny, yet they still seem way too big to be inside me!
And of course I made a pork roast with sauerkraut for dinner today - we need lots of good luck this year!
January 3 (30w6d): Had my 3 hour glucose test this morning. Michael is a real trooper and went with me for the whole thing. Since it pretty much involves sitting in a waiting room for 3.5 hours, I was happy he came. My arms were killing me by the end, the one technician had drawn blood from lower down on my arm than normal and I was already getting a huge bruise. But at least it went by relatively quickly. I read my book (Personal History by Katherine Graham - great book BTW) and Michael slept. Since we had to got o the hospital lab rather than the off site lab,. I had wanted to pop up and see the nursery but we ran out of time since I had to get to my doctor's appointment at 11:45.
All went pretty well at my doctor's appointment. My blood pressure was very good at 90/60, my weight continues to be another issue....I am definitely on the pound a week schedule and more. I've racked on an extra 32 pounds. Ouch. No wonder my back is killing me. But the baby is measuring right on and the heartbeat is good and strong and is still at 150. I heard the closer you get to birth the more telling the heartbeat is - the old wives tale says that 150 is a girl so we'll see! My appointment was with my doctor's partner so I could get a chance to meet her on the off chance my doctor is not available for the birth, her partner will deliver. I liked her, she was very matter of fact and gave me lots of information on gestational diabetes. Now lets hope I don't need any of it!
My next appointment is in 2 weeks but it is with the nurse practitioner and not my doctor. While I really like the NP I feel like I haven't seen my doctor in ages and there are some very specific things I want to talk to her about the birth. I guess I have to wait for my 35 week appointment. Hopefully this is not an early baby!
January 4 (31w0d): Well my gestational diabetes test is negative. I guess one of the blood draws came back slightly elevated but the others were all fine so that is not considered gestational diabetes. I am so relieved! I must celebrate with lots of ice cream!
January 5-6 (31w1-2d): Very quiet weekend. I had my ESL tutoring session in the morning Saturday and then I spent the rest of the day cleaning and packing stuff up in the computer room so we can get it ready for the baby. Exhausting! Michael was at work all day working on his homework but then he took me out for dinner tonight - Sun's Cafe, my favorite Sushi restaurant. It was yummy as always but we were both still hungry when we left - odd. We bumped into Jamie there - it was very random but good to see him! Then Michael and I went to West Coast to get a movie, Swordfish. Of course I fell asleep during the movie so have no idea whether it was good or not! Sunday, more of the same - trying to make room for this baby!
My back is really starting to hurt. Much more than normal. It's on my lower right side towards the spine and it's just a stinging type pain. I guess there is a big knot there :-( Michael has been good about rubbing it for me but sitting all day at work is getting hard. By the time I get home at night it's incredibly painful.
January 8 (31w4d): Called the doctor's office today to see if using sports cream on my back is OK. This is how bad it hurts, I'm even willing to smell like that awful cream! They said it's fine, just make sure to keep it off the belly!
Now on top of the back pain I have developed the worst burning rib pain. It's high up and under my right ribs but going close in to the sternum. The area itself is actually incredibly sensitive to the touch and it is like a burning rubbing pain. I used to think it was neat to feel the baby moving up there, running its foot or hand across the top of my belly. Not any more. Some of the movements now actually cause intense pain. Unfortunately I know too many women who have had the same pain and the only cure for it is birth. Going to be a long 8 weeks!
January 12 (32w1d): Had dinner tonight with Bonny and Mary Rita. We went to the Cheesecake Factory at Chestnut Hill and had a 2 hour wait, but we were able to use that time for shopping! Got an adorable jumpsuit for the baby with matching hat at the Baby Gap and the softest little velour cardigan as well. I love these clothes - they are just so little and cute. I really can't imagine the little person who will actually wear them though! Earlier today I had gone through all the baby clothes we had and I was surprised hoe many we actually had. I think I am set for now, since I don't want too many gender neutral stuff - I am sure I will be out there buying little boy or girl stuff soon after the baby is born!
I am very round. I've obviously had a belly the last 15 weeks or so, but now it has taken on that basketball proportion. It is very round and high and really sticks out there. The baby's movements are starting to feel different, there are very rarely kicks anymore, just movement. And poor baby, sometimes there are hiccups too! I think the baby is head down, I can now feel which side of the belly s/he is lying on and *think* that I may have felt a foot by my rib pain. There was movement there so I tried to grab the movement. It was hard. I'm thinking it was a foot! Hopefully since I don't want a breech baby!
January 14 (32w3d): I am finally reaching a point where I am looking forward to the end of pregnancy. I had a rough weekend and Sunday the rib pain actually brought me to tears. That and the fact that rolling over in bed can be extremely painful and a major production sort of has me at wits end right now. I loved being pregnant - there is nothing more amazing than feeling those kicks and imaging that little being growing inside of you. But the pain and discomfort are growing and I am getting more eager to meet this little one. But given the amount of work we have to do yet to get his/her room ready, s/he better stay put for at least 7 more weeks!
My friend Tricia who works at Panasonic got us an amazing deal on a Panasonic digital camcorder. We saved some big bucks buying it through her. It just arrived today and I can't wait for Michael to get home from work so we can play with it! No more scanning photos or getting them developed on CD. I am so excited! The camcorder also takes still photos (with 1.6 megapixel resolution) so I can't wait to try it out!
January 14 (32w4d): Rough day at work with the rib and back pain. The many deadlines I have this week don't help much either. I have my first La Leche meeting tonight at 7:30 and since its the first in the new series I really want to go. But the thought of staying home and resting sounds so much better. I'm not sure if I can sit in a chair for 2 more hours. But for the good of the baby I force myself to go. Michael was funny, I think he was a little confused/insulted as to why this was a women's only meeting :-)
Of course can't find the library where the meeting is being held in Arlington. Finally find it after several illegal U-turns across 4 lanes of traffic on Mass Ave. Fun. I'm a little nervous b/c I don't like going into a room full of strangers. But as soon as I walk in the door everyone is very welcoming and I am relieved to see about 5 other pregnant women there. Three of us are actually due within the same February/March time frame so that was good. The meeting was interesting, we actually talked about many things - from problems with breastfeeding, to general parenting problems, to how to make sure you have the birth you want. The older members were really very knowledgeable on many topics, but most importantly to me a t the times was the various hospitals and their attitudes towards birth. I felt much better about everything at the end of the meeting and it was just enjoyable to talk to all of those women who were going through/had gone through what I was. Everyone was slightly more "crunchy" than I am, but in the end we all want what's best for the baby :-)
When I got home from work, Michael was playing with our new video camera. I noticed a gift bag on top of the dresser and asked him where the present came from - he just tried to look innocent. So next thing I know I am on camera opening a present :-) He had sent away to the Lodge at Koele - the most amazing hotel we had stayed at on our honeymoon in Hawaii, and ordered me one of their spa robes, which I had loved when we were there. So I open it and try it on, and of course they are "one size fits all" - considering I am about 5'1, the robe was gigantic. Well everywhere except the belly - it fit fine there! Hopefully it will shrink a bit in the wash so I am not sweeping the dog hair off the floor everytime I walk in it. I joked with him that he had secretly wanted one for himself so this was his way of getting it since it was so big on me. I think it will be fine though -0 definitely warm and cozy. I had been looking for a new robe to take to the hospital with me, but I won;t take this one b/c it is all white, don't want to risk ruining it. What a sweet husband!
Afterwards we had a fun time watching the robe opening on video. Obviously not a historic moment to document, but fun anyway. I wish we had had a video camera before! Oh well, I am sure we'll take full advantage of it when the baby comes. And then we tried out the still picture feature on the camera and Michael took some belly shot s of me. It's great because you can see them immediately and say "do over" if you hate them, which I often do.
January 16 (32w5d): Doctor's appointment this morning at 8:45. Starts off well, my BP is 120/58, which is actually a little high for me but no one seems troubled by it. My weight gain is up to 36 pounds, but that means I only gained 4 pounds in t he last 2 weeks which is good. Then once I meet with Tammy the NP, I get the bad news. I'm spilling sugar into my urine. Combined with the fact that I had failed my 1 hour glucose test and squeaked through my 3 hour they are obviously concerned. She says my breakfast which I had just had about a half hour ago could be the reason - a glass of OJ and cereal with dried cranberries. The juice and the cranberries are very high in sugar. But they don't want to risk a big baby (and neither do I) so I get sent to the lab for more blood work and they made me an appointment to meet with a nutritionist to discuss my diet. Basically what Tammy said is cut way down on the sugars and reduce the carbs like potatoes and pastas. No citrus fruits or grapes - anything with "skin". I can only have hard fruits like melons and apples. Try finding good melons in New England in the winter. Everything I was to cut out described what I had eaten in the last few days so no wonder my sugar was high! *sigh*
When I left the doctor's office I was pretty upset. My hormones were definitely in overdrive - this was not the worst news I had gotten, and it might not even be that huge a problem - it was really just something to watch. But still it just added to the overwhelmed feeling I had. I wasn't sure what to eat. My granola/breakfast bars, dried cranberries, oranges and yogurt were my staple pregnancy snacks. All were either high in sugar or carbohydrates - or both. I was shocked to find my yogurt has 44g of carbohydrates. You think you are eating healthily, but then you find out its all wrong. Time to go to the store and stock up on meat and vegetables. A woman on an e-mail list I am on for March moms recommended bacon as a snack. It seems so counterintuitive, but.... I guess I'll be adding bacon, peanut butter and nuts to my shopping list as well.
Michael and I went to the Burlington mall tonight to drop off some film and I had something to exchange and needed to stock up at Aveda. I barely made it from one end of the mall to the other - I was in an amazing amount of pain. I felt like I had just run a marathon - the rib pain was terrible. Couldn't walk without flinching. Felt like the worst runners side stitch. Or like I had a bad sunburn on the inside and someone (the baby!) was twisting it. You know it's bad when Michael offers to go into Gymboree and Pottery Barn Kids and I would rather go home.
Finally get home and into bed - where lying flat is the only thing that helps the pain Just 7 more weeks!!
January 18 (33w0d): Training class for Dreamweaver today. It was good as usual and I learned a lot. Michael met me for lunch at Burlington Mall which was fun - wish we worked closer and could do this more often! After the class was over I did a bunch of errands, on a quest for a baby hamper but no such luck. Though I did find a baby book that wasn't awful so I bought that. I'm still looking but at least now I have something that isn't too cutesy!
January 19 (33w1d): A free Saturday at last! My tutoring is over but since I seem to be suffering from insomnia I still can't sleep in. So Michael and I get an early start to the day and take Maverick to the groomers for a much needed bath. Then we do a ton of errands. I was supposed to meet my cousin Theresa today but we had to change the plans so I am hoping I can be productive today. I got some stuff done, but not everything. By 6 o'clock I just can't even move again. The rib pain is just awful.
Therese called tonight - she is coming to visit next weekend. Should be fun, hopefully I will be in less pain and better company than I was today!
January 20 (33w2d): Venturing out to go baby shopping with another mom-to-be that I met on the internet, Anne-Marie who I have gone shopping with once before. But this is serious suburb shopping - the pressure is really on now that our due dates are so close and her blood pressure has been elevated. We hit Target and I actually got a bunch of stuff, I'm feeling much more prepared. Got some onesies, medicine, medicine dropper, petroleum jelly, etc - the basics. And of course some Iron pills for me. Next stop - Babies-R-US. Of course it's 3 o'clock on a Sunday so the place is mobbed with pregnant women and women with babies. Sort of scary. But we find a few more things and actually I find a baby book I really like so I'll just return the one I got on Friday. After all of this we are both exhausted and call it a day. The rib pain was moderate today so maybe there is some hope.
January 21 (33w3d): Get some cleaning done around the house - totally cleaned out all the stuff that had accumulated under the bathroom sink. I hope this isn't nesting - I really want to get to at least 38 weeks before I deliver this baby. Then Pam and I got to the movies to see In the Bedroom. Movie was pretty good, popcorn and company were excellent. I love three day weekends. Afterwards I went home and made a little more progress on clearing out some stuff to make way for the baby!
January 24 (33w6d): Baby has been moving like crazy this week. The movements are almost painful. So different than the kicks earlier in the pregnancy. I think I've felt his/her foot and rear end and possibly the back. I spend a lot of time trying to get that little foot to move away from my rib! The movements are so cool to watch though despite the discomfort. It cracks me up when the baby moves all to one side and I have a completely lopsided belly. Though lately the size of the baby has made this increasingly uncomfortable, making the side s/he is on very tight.
We're getting our professional pregnancy photos taken Saturday by our wedding photographer. I'm excited but it has been a pain trying to find something to wear. I ordered two black jersey dresses from Mimi Maternity because I really loved the way a non-maternity jersey dress I have fits over the belly but I don't want to stretch it out. At first I didn't like either dress but now the second one has grown on me so I am thinking I will keep that and return the other one. I ran to the Burlington Mall at lunch yesterday to see if they had anything else but not really. I tried the same dress I have on in different size at Mimi but the one I have seems to fit best. I hope the belly curve is noticeable enough in black. I think since the material is so clingy it will be. I saw this cool picture online of a belly with the mother and father's hands against it so I'd like something like that I think. Then maybe change into a button down shirt and leave some buttons open exposing the belly. We'll see how it goes! I am just so sick of shopping for something to wear I almost don't care at this point....
January 26 (34w1d): Michael went and got the crib today and he and his friend James took the bookshelves from the study to the basement and brought up the armoire for the nursery. We're making progress it is just so slow! I am ready for this room to be done already.... Especially since I found out yesterday that my friend Tricia who is due March 6th went on temporary bed rest for high blood pressure. I can't go on bed rest at this point - too many loose ends!
Tonight we went to get our "pregnancy pictures" taken. I wore the black dress after much debate, and after all that we didn't end up doing a hands shot like I had wanted. But I think I will really like the pictures - I hope so at least. I ended up going with an open button down shirt look too that shows off the belly. I hope they come out ok and the linea negra line isn't too freaky looking!
January 27 (34w2d): My friend Therese was supposed to come to town yesterday for the weekend and we were supposed to have brunch with Pam and Trang today but she ended up not coming because she wasn't feeling well. So the three of us decided we would have brunch anyway and still keep the plan to meet at Trang's and go to the place in the North end. We're supposed to meet there at 12:30 and it's 12:20 and Mike is still cleaning and fixing my car. I hate being late! So finally I am off and get there just on time. Trang comes down to meet me and let me into her parking garage since parking is so atrocious down there. We go up to her apartment, she opens the door, and I see my cousin Mary Rita. Very odd - then I see a lot of other people....good grief it's another surprise shower! They got me again, just like they did for the wedding! It was totally not what I was expecting and not how I had planned to spend the day at all - but it was a more than welcome change of plans! It was just so great to see everyone, Tammi, Becky and Leesy had come up, my friend Kim was there who I hadn't seen in ages, Deb and Lauren, Patsy, Faith, Edna and Beth from work, my Aunt Sharry and Mary Rita and of course Pam and Trang the hosts! Sadly my mom, grandmother and Mike's mom couldn't be there. My mom called in the middle of the gift opening and she was so sad - but I opened her gift while we were on the phone - cute little stacking star storage boxes filled with lots of baby goodies. And then she put a picture of her, my dad and grandparents in the card since they couldn't be there.
Trang outdid herself with the quiches and there was yummy salads and bagels as well. And there were tons of presents! Good grief this little baby is quite well set and outfitted now! We really got the cutest things for the baby and I can't wait for him/her to get here so we can play with all this stuff. But not too soon since we don't have a name or nursery yet..... and yes we had the ever present name discussion again! Poor little baby if it's a boy - we just have no clue.
After the shower we stayed and watched the rest of the Patriots-Steelers game which the Patriots ended up winning and now they are off to the superbowl. Then Mike and I hauled all the stuff home, unpacked a bit and then went over to Carl's to look at the proofs from last nights photo shoot. We were shocked to see one of them blown up to 11x17 when we walked into his studio/gallery. He loved it and wanted our permission to enter it in some exhibitions and books. Wow. And to show his appreciation he gave us an 11x17 copy for ourselves. Where in the world will I put this huge picture of my huge self? The pictures really did come out good - there are some really bad ones of course, but probably 40% of them I really like so it will be hard to choose. And I am so glad I went with some open shirt shots, I actually like them better than the black dress ones. My $8 shirt from Target - who knew!
Boston chicken for dinner but no mashed potatoes for me. I have an appointment with the nutritionist to discuss my sugar levels tomorrow. But I am beat tonight, all that shower fun really wore me out. I was in bed by 8:30!
January 28 (34w3d): Met with the nutritionist this afternoon. I saw my actual blood sugar levels and they are higher than I thought. So now I am more worried than I was - I really don't want a big GD baby, and I don't want the baby's sugar levels to crash once s/he is born. Good grief. I have been bad, even lately - I just love my ice cream! Guess that's out now. So I reviewed my current diet with my nutritionist and basically all juices and sweets are out. Plain or vanilla yogurt, no berry ones as they have much more sugar. Limited intake of starches/carbs and heavy on t he protein and veggies. She actually wrote out a sheet for me with amounts and how much of what to eat at each meal as well. I am a little overwhelmed and I really need to go to the grocery store now and stock up on meat and veggies. However I just went home after at the appointment - it was too exhausting and there was no parking so I had to park ages away from the hospital. Hope its not like that when I go to give birth!
Feeling OK this week, just still lots of rib pain burning especially late at night so much that any movement hurts. If I was prepared nursery wise for the baby I would say lets have it now. But I do like the movements - they are clearly movements now and not kicks. I can tell if its a foot or hand moving and can tell when the baby moves from my left side to my right - you can even see the contour of its spine. It's freaky yet so amazing at the same time. I will definitely miss this. Michael will too, he told me he would miss the belly the other night, though I think he is ready to get his thin, self-sufficient, competent wife back and say good by to this achy hormonal creature I have become!I thought I lost my palm pilot the other night so instead of looking for it I just lay down and burst into tears. Michael looked at me, went out to my car and found the palm pilot which had obviously just fallen out of my purse. I am a mess! Luckily I have a wonderful husband who takes care of me even when he is home sick with the flu!
