Yes, still waiting around for Littlekins to arrive! The due date is exactly 1 week from today. That's exactly what it feels like, too... just waiting! I'm trying to find random stuff to keep sorta busy with such as reorganizing parts of her room, shopping during the days (except there's nothing left for me to buy!), surfing the internet looking at message boards of other moms due in March and keeping up to date on how many of them have already had their babies, keeping caught up on laundry and other cleaning, etc. Each day I wake up thinking, "Could today possibly be the day?" but then the days goes on without any real signs of baby :( Oh well, I know she will come when she's ready, it's just that when I'M ready for something, I'm ready NOW!
On Monday I will go back for the last "growth scan" where they will determine whether she is still growing. If not, or if fluid levels are low again, they will talk about inducing next week, but if everything looks OK and her size/weight is still hanging out at the 20th percentile or more, they will leave her alone until the following week is what I gathered. This past week on Wednesday, I was still only dilated a fingertip and effaced about 80% so it doesn't seem that too much is happening on its own lately.
Sean and I are trying to spend some time relaxing together, going out to dinner by ourselves and things before the baby is born. It still doesn't quite seem real though that soon we won't have this freedom to do whatever we want whenever we want to. That is completely fine with us, it just doesn't seem real! I do wonder WHEN it will happen!!!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Week 38
I just completed week 38, which means it's sooo close now!!! After my last post in which I mentioned having some real contractions at work and how I hoped that they wouldn't be a daily occurrence from then until delivery... well OF COURSE they had to get even worse the very next day! On Tuesday morning at work I was in tears from the pain and there was no way to fake my way through those contractions. It was like the worst cramping ever (yes, I know they'll be worse when I'm in active labor) and shooting pains down my thigh which made it impossible to sit OR stand. I'm sure the thigh pain was from the baby pressing on a nerve. I asked if they could get a PM substitute for me and the secretary began working on it, but in the meantime, one of the other staff members was able to take over my class until a sub could arrive so I could leave earlier. On my way home, I called the doctor to see what (if anything) I could do about the pain ad they asked me to come in at 1:30. I am positive that I'm the laughing stock of the whole doctors office at this point and they all probably roll their eyes when they see my name come up in the appointments. But what am I supposed to do?! I figure that's what they're there for... to help me through my pregnancy and monitor my pain! Anyway, I saw a nurse practitioner who said I was effaced about 70% but barely dilated a fingertip. She said my pain sounded like early labor contractions and that the only things I could really do would be take a warm bath, take Tylenol, etc.
I already had an appointment scheduled for the following day with my midwives, so I went and explained my work situation... that I was having to leave so often for pain or problems, that I couldn't really focus on my work at this point and she wrote a note for me to discontinue working. Luckily, it should work out that I do not have to return at the end of the year and still keep my job and benefits. It feels like an enormous stress has been lifted off my shoulders now that I only have to focus on getting this baby here! I didn't even realize how stressed I was about work until I finished up everything there. I went and met with my sub on Thursday evening to explain some last-minute things and I've been e-mailing her with other little things that have occurred to me, but man I feel sooo much better (mentally and emotionally that is... the painful contractions are still happening)!
On Thursday I had the last appointment with the specialist and he found the amniotic fluid levels were up a little bit (good news!) and he just wanted me to get at least another week in with this baby inside so she can put on more weight since she's still pretty little. I wonder though how accurate these weight estimates are. I always hear they can be a pound off either direction. Watch me deliver a 9 lb. baby after all this concern about her size! I hope not because then she won't fit into any of her newborn sized clothing :) He did mention that it'll be best if my water doesn't break on it's own since I don't have too much in the first place.
This morning around 5:30 I woke up to go to the bathroom and when I got back in bed, was having some horribly painful contractions about 8 or 9 min. apart, but after a couple of hours, they went away. I'm a little worried that I won't know when the right time to call the hospital will be! They say to wait until contractions are 4 min. apart, lasting at least 1 min. each, for at least an hour. Well, how likely is it that the contractions will actually reach those times? I mean I'm picturing it to start off far apart and get closer together, but what if they go from 8 min. apart to 3 min. apart and feel very intense? Then do I call or do I wait to make sure they do that for at least an hour? Who knows! All I know is that I don't want to go in to the hospital only to be told I need to go back home because I'm not dilated enough. I keep reading stories (on message boards) about women who have been having horribly painful contractions all day long, they get to be 4 or 5 min. apart, they can't talk or walk through them, but they get to the hospital and are sent back home because they're only dilated to 3cm. They probably already have a poster with my name and picture up behind the check-in desk at the hospital saying "Do NOT admit this lady unless you can see a baby already coming out!"
I already had an appointment scheduled for the following day with my midwives, so I went and explained my work situation... that I was having to leave so often for pain or problems, that I couldn't really focus on my work at this point and she wrote a note for me to discontinue working. Luckily, it should work out that I do not have to return at the end of the year and still keep my job and benefits. It feels like an enormous stress has been lifted off my shoulders now that I only have to focus on getting this baby here! I didn't even realize how stressed I was about work until I finished up everything there. I went and met with my sub on Thursday evening to explain some last-minute things and I've been e-mailing her with other little things that have occurred to me, but man I feel sooo much better (mentally and emotionally that is... the painful contractions are still happening)!
On Thursday I had the last appointment with the specialist and he found the amniotic fluid levels were up a little bit (good news!) and he just wanted me to get at least another week in with this baby inside so she can put on more weight since she's still pretty little. I wonder though how accurate these weight estimates are. I always hear they can be a pound off either direction. Watch me deliver a 9 lb. baby after all this concern about her size! I hope not because then she won't fit into any of her newborn sized clothing :) He did mention that it'll be best if my water doesn't break on it's own since I don't have too much in the first place.
This morning around 5:30 I woke up to go to the bathroom and when I got back in bed, was having some horribly painful contractions about 8 or 9 min. apart, but after a couple of hours, they went away. I'm a little worried that I won't know when the right time to call the hospital will be! They say to wait until contractions are 4 min. apart, lasting at least 1 min. each, for at least an hour. Well, how likely is it that the contractions will actually reach those times? I mean I'm picturing it to start off far apart and get closer together, but what if they go from 8 min. apart to 3 min. apart and feel very intense? Then do I call or do I wait to make sure they do that for at least an hour? Who knows! All I know is that I don't want to go in to the hospital only to be told I need to go back home because I'm not dilated enough. I keep reading stories (on message boards) about women who have been having horribly painful contractions all day long, they get to be 4 or 5 min. apart, they can't talk or walk through them, but they get to the hospital and are sent back home because they're only dilated to 3cm. They probably already have a poster with my name and picture up behind the check-in desk at the hospital saying "Do NOT admit this lady unless you can see a baby already coming out!"
Monday, February 14, 2011
Week 36/37
Again, I'm a bit behind! I'm 37 weeks now, but will post about last week's happenings along with this week... Wait a second... there's not much new to report from last week! Well, we did get some good news from my doctor appointment on Friday. It looks like Baby has gained some weight and they're estimating her to be 5 lbs. 13 oz. now. My fluid levels stayed the same from the previous week as well, so nothing alarming there :) I actually felt relatively good last week considering the Braxton Hicks. I am NOT a fan of having those! I think I've gotten pretty used to having them although when they're lasting all day at work, it's still extremely difficult to focus. Today I began having some pretty painful cramping and lower back shooting pains while at work. It felt like contractions (the actual kind) but they weren't consistent enough to time them. I wasn't having any other symptoms along with them either, they just came and went throughout the day. Now I'm hoping that this won't be a daily occurrence for the next 3 weeks! I know, however, that it very well could be. I am very curious about whether I'm dilating or thinning at this point even though I know it's not a good indicator of when labor will begin. I just wonder because she's been "dropped" to zero station for at least 3 weeks now (I think a bit longer actually) and I feel so much pressure that it's crazy to me that nothing else would be happening! I visit the doctors on Wed. and Thurs. this week again, so maybe I'll be checked at one of those. Now that Baby is full term, I'm more than ready to meet her! I am so glad that we don't have to worry about a her being a preemie at this point and having to stay in the NICU. She should be as ready to go as I am :) Whenever we have the weekly ultrasounds, she's always doing her "practice breathing" and swallowing, so that's good news as well.
One other thing off my plate now is parent teacher conferences. Yay!!! I am so glad to be done with those for the year since I scheduled them early on purpose. I met with the parents of 20 of my 25 students and sent home written reports for the others that requested it. We also finished up the state writing assessment (thank goodness!!!) Now I just need to stay on top of my lesson plans and have them done a week ahead of time each week so that a sub can take over at a moment's notice. Writing lesson plans a week ahead of time is much harder than it sounds because things just change so much on a daily basis! When I think I can get through a whole math lesson in one day, it can suddenly stretch out to 2 or 3 days if kids aren't getting it as well as i would like them to. And it's to the point where we're starting a couple of new units and so it's like I'm going to get these units started and a sub will need to finish them, but it would almost be easier if a sub could start these units to make it less confusing for them and the class. Work stresses me out! I'm stressed mainly because of the planning and trying to make things as easy as I can for the sub when she comes in. At least I have an awesome sub lined up who will be able to take over and do things just fine. I just feel bad leaving things confusing for someone else.
Well, if I have any new interesting news from this week's doctor visits, I'll post again... I'd love for my next post to have news of Baby's arrival, but I'm sure I'll have to wait more than a week for that one :)
One other thing off my plate now is parent teacher conferences. Yay!!! I am so glad to be done with those for the year since I scheduled them early on purpose. I met with the parents of 20 of my 25 students and sent home written reports for the others that requested it. We also finished up the state writing assessment (thank goodness!!!) Now I just need to stay on top of my lesson plans and have them done a week ahead of time each week so that a sub can take over at a moment's notice. Writing lesson plans a week ahead of time is much harder than it sounds because things just change so much on a daily basis! When I think I can get through a whole math lesson in one day, it can suddenly stretch out to 2 or 3 days if kids aren't getting it as well as i would like them to. And it's to the point where we're starting a couple of new units and so it's like I'm going to get these units started and a sub will need to finish them, but it would almost be easier if a sub could start these units to make it less confusing for them and the class. Work stresses me out! I'm stressed mainly because of the planning and trying to make things as easy as I can for the sub when she comes in. At least I have an awesome sub lined up who will be able to take over and do things just fine. I just feel bad leaving things confusing for someone else.
Well, if I have any new interesting news from this week's doctor visits, I'll post again... I'd love for my next post to have news of Baby's arrival, but I'm sure I'll have to wait more than a week for that one :)
Baby Shower
I mentioned that I had a great baby shower thrown by Sean's family last weekend. Here are a few of the pictures...
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Week 35
Week 35 wasn't too eventful (thank goodness). Don't get me wrong, I still had contractions constantly, but I didn't have to go in for any "emergency" appointments! Actually, we had 2 snow days last week, so it was very nice to be able to lie down all day long for 2 days. It started snowing on Monday afternoon and I had an appointment with the specialist at 2:30, so I left school at 2 to get there on time. Little did I know that my car had already iced over completely, so I spent about 20 minutes scraping it before I should even leave the parking lot! Thankfully a very nice mom of one of my students pulled up and helped me scrape as well. When I finally got to the doctor (at almost 3), we were expecting him to tell us if Baby had gained some weight. When we asked, he said, "We didn't measure that today... we'll do it next time." OK we BOTH heard him say 2 weeks ago that he would definitely want to check again on the weight in 2 weeks. So now he's putting it off until later this week. I did find out that I'm not dilated or anything yet though.
This weekend, I had my baby shower that Sean's family threw for me. It was great! We got lots of good stuff and it was nice to see everyone and hang out for awhile. It was actually a double baby shower for Laura and I, but she couldn't make the trip up from Kansas City because her puppy baby was in the emergency hospital :( Luckily, everything turned out OK, but I missed having her there. Now Sean and I need to get going on shopping for the other necessities that we don't have yet. Diapers and wipes being the top priorities! We don't have any of those yet! Hopefully we can start stocking up now.
Today I have not been very productive because I just feel crappy! I've had a headache since I got up this morning, I didn't sleep much last night, and I just feel totally worn out. Baby is still tossing and turning in there though and it feels even lower now than before (is that even possible?) While lying down today, I did manage to get some lesson plans done for the week and put my conference folders together. I'm holding my parent-teacher conferences this week since the school won't be doing them until mid-March. I'm not looking forward to the super long days and it's probably not quite what the doctor had in mind when she told me to spend my evenings lying down! But I can't really get around this either. This will be a LONG week and then just a few left before the Baby arrives! I wish I knew when exactly she would be arriving...
This weekend, I had my baby shower that Sean's family threw for me. It was great! We got lots of good stuff and it was nice to see everyone and hang out for awhile. It was actually a double baby shower for Laura and I, but she couldn't make the trip up from Kansas City because her puppy baby was in the emergency hospital :( Luckily, everything turned out OK, but I missed having her there. Now Sean and I need to get going on shopping for the other necessities that we don't have yet. Diapers and wipes being the top priorities! We don't have any of those yet! Hopefully we can start stocking up now.
Today I have not been very productive because I just feel crappy! I've had a headache since I got up this morning, I didn't sleep much last night, and I just feel totally worn out. Baby is still tossing and turning in there though and it feels even lower now than before (is that even possible?) While lying down today, I did manage to get some lesson plans done for the week and put my conference folders together. I'm holding my parent-teacher conferences this week since the school won't be doing them until mid-March. I'm not looking forward to the super long days and it's probably not quite what the doctor had in mind when she told me to spend my evenings lying down! But I can't really get around this either. This will be a LONG week and then just a few left before the Baby arrives! I wish I knew when exactly she would be arriving...
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