Pregnancy at 31wks

I am feeling crazy and lazy. All in all, I really am doing great and the countdown says it all. Should our girl be better about schedules and timing then her mama, she should be here in 8wks and 6 days! My sciatica and pelvic pain are increasing, but I have plans to see the chiropractor (based on my midwife's recommendation) so hopefully that will help.

Exercising has almost stopped. It is hot. 107* and you want me to exercise? No. Wait, I mean, no thank you. I really am trying, but about 10min into our evening walk I feel swollen, sore and sticky. Not pleasant, but I know it's important to try and up-keep exercise for the sake of labor. I have also lost my mind. Nothing is coming out of my mouth the way I mean it. :) I occasionally make words up, or when I do something seemingly odd my explanations make no sense.

Example: Yesterday while laying in bed I heaved off by pushing into Adam's stomach. Needless to say, he didn't appreciate it. My response? "I'm sorry, I thought you were the mattress." The sad part is, I really did. I thought I had my hand on the bed, not my poor husband's tummy.

I am also super emotional. Today I cried because Adam asked if I'd like to get frozen yogurt. (Yes, you read that right.) Two days ago I cried because I feel like I'm always crying. (This had to do with my pelvic and back pain that night)

I am eating everything. I made a huge batch of cookies last week and Adam ate four.

......in related news this around the time of the first appointment I've had where I had ONLY gained 5lbs in three weeks instead of my usual 15lbs. God's sense of humor doesn't necessarily match my own.

Today I went ahead and bought a maternity swimsuit top. I had been jimmy-rigging an old "big Kaitlin" tankini I had kept, but obviously it didn't fit quite right and subsequently I'm embarrassed when wearing it. As far as maternity suits go, this one is actually pretty cute. I'm hoping to get some laps in the pool this week. No real excuse since it's free and right outside my front door.

This week a well-meaning new friend at church, about three years my junior, commented "WOW, you've gotten even bigger in just a week! How much longer before you pop?"

*sigh* Thank you? I couldn't really be upset, she's quite sweet and if she thought she was going to make me self-conscious (she did) she would never have said it.

How much longer do we have left? I feel like this post is one big whine, I really am enjoying most of pregnancy, and I know I'm lucky to have Adam here and most things going smoothly. Still, I can't help but want it to be October 2nd....

Makin' Room

Adam and I re-arranged our room yesterday to make things a little more comfortable since we now have the behemoth pack-n-play setup, rather then continuing to store it these last few months. It does make our room feel much cozier.

...But maybe that's because it takes up so much space!

Where's Baby?

Last night, I changed things up.

Instead of going for my usual insomnia, I went for crazy dreams and panic. Maybe it was only one dream, but in the morning light I feel like I had about five last night highlighting the grandiose lack of maternal instinct.

I kept losing my baby. No one took her, no one threatened her, I did not abuse her. Like a set of keys, I could never seem to remember where I had set her down. I spent the whole of each dream running through my house trying to find her, assure her safety, and move on with our day.

In the end she was always somewhere bizarre like; on the fridge, in an empty bathtub, by the mailbox, or in a taxicab. Yeesh. Let's hope this isn't some foresight into what my parenting skills will be like!

30/31wk Appt

Today was our "30wks and 4 days" appointment. Not surprising, since we had a hospital visit last week, all is well with our baby girl. I'm still measuring on target, and am pleased to announce that in the last three weeks I managed to gain only three pounds. YAY! (This should clue you in to just how much and how often I've been gaining...) Our girl's heartbeat was around 142, and she politely kicked the Doppler microphone while our midwife was trying to get readings.

More blood work to be done tomorrow, and I have the delightful task of completing a 24hr urine for them as well. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of doing one of these before, basically you carry an orange jug around for 24hrs to use when you go to the bathroom. It's delightful. All this is to monitor my kidney function and tomorrow's blood work is for my liver enzymes as well as to do a followup on my thyroid. (They've upped my medication, again.) Because of my colorful medical chart I am at greater risk for pre-eclampsia, so they want to make sure they have a baseline for me in case I begin to show signs of pre-eclampsia they'll know what's normal for me, and what lab results are something to worry about.

It's exciting knowing we've entered the "every two weeks" phase of our midwife appointments, and my next appointment with the perinatologist is on the 16th, but following that appointment I'll be going every week. While those appointments are to monitor baby's health (and mine), who wouldn't want to see their precious babe every week?!

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Today Adam had interview number, are you ready, FIVE with Staffmark. This was the first interview he's had with them that was incredibly informal. They met at a Starbucks, and chatted. This gentleman, head of business development at the Dallas offices, was interested in Adam's work experience, but also his being an Eagle Scout and his volunteering with the Red Cross after Katrina. (the first one out of all interviews for all companies to seem to even notice that information on his resume)

At the end of their hour and a half together, it was announced that he planned on recommending Adam for the position and to expect to hear something within the next three days! I am trying so hard not to count our chickens, but it's difficult not to be excited, proud and hopeful! This position is in Las Colinas, so the offices are 20min from our home, and he would be able to work from 7am-4am if he wanted, which would help beat traffic and give him time home with me and oo1 in the evenings. Not to mention the salary increase, good vacation time and better benefits.

Now we're sitting, waiting, wishing....

Bradley Method Class--Wk1/2

As I write this, a certain little girl is kicking me just below my right rib cage, practicing her dégages. Our strong girl may make a beautiful ballerina someday, especially with all this in-utero practice.

(Let's just hope she got her daddy's arches)

Today was our first time to attend our Bradley Method class. Really, the class started last week but I've been struggling with insomnia and hadn't gotten to sleep until almost 6am that morning. Getting up at 8:30am was just not happening. This morning though, we had no excuse. I was incredibly nervous and almost asked not to go. For some reason new groups tend to make me anxious and I wondered "will we even want to be there?!" The answer, we both discovered, was "YES!!" I can tell I'm going to get a lot out of the class to help prepare me for the natural birth I'm hoping to achieve, and Adam was remarking how he felt like it really gave him a specific role and a way to participate. The class will take place over the next few weeks until---October 1st. :) Yes, a day before our "guess date". Though, if I'm anything like the women in my family, or the rest of the un-induced ladies out there, I'll be an extra 1-2wks.

Today we covered the exercises we'll continue and increase over the next few months. Exercises like squats, the butterfly, tailor sitting, and kegels.

Tailor Sitting

• Sit on the floor with feet crossed near hips. Keep the back tall and lean gently forward.
• Use as a replacement for chair-sitting whenever possible.
  

Squatting

• Place feet hip-width apart, keep knees over the toes and gently lower to a deep flat-footed squat. Hold on to a counter top or a partner for balance if necessary. Return to standing by coming up "tail first" and roll the spine up.
• Use squatting in place of bending over.

Pelvic Rocking

• On hands and knees, forming a box with hands directly under shoulders and knees directly under hips, begin with your back in a neutral, level position. Gently relax the lower back, keeping your upper back still. As you return the spine to neutral, pull in your abdominal muscles, thinking "belly button to backbone."
• This is my hands-down favorite exercise for relieving back discomfort, and a host of other pregnancy-related discomforts. Begin with four sets of ten, spread throughout your day, including a set immediately before bed.

Butterfly Exercise

• Sit on the floor, leaning at about a 45-degree angle against a firm support with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Have a partner assist you by kneeling in front of you and applying mild resistance to the outsides of your knees as you separate your knees and lower them to the floor. Release the resistance and return to starting position.
• This exercise strengthens the abductor muscles, making it easier to maintain a good birthing position for second stage.

Kegels

• Tone the pelvic floor by contracting and releasing the pelvic floor muscles as if you were trying to start and stop the flow of urine.

We also covered relaxation techniques to practice now and use in labor as well as an in-depth discussion on true prenatal nutrition and breastfeeding. The breastfeeding was more of an introduction, and we're expected to go to a La Leche League meeting sometime in the next week to get an idea and take notes to speak about next Saturday. I really appreciated that all parts of the class gave Adam a job to do. "Here is how you help with this exercise...this will help you both when she is....your role in the relaxation is....she needs you because..." A Bradley Method catch phrase is "Pregnancy is an athletic event." Hence calling the husbands coaches. Also, a phrase our teacher used that I liked was, "A real man helps finish what he started." While Adam has always been in the "how can I help and support you" camp, it's important to me that the classes are centered around the husband learning how to help his wife get through this intense and draining event the best way possible, and to be there the way she needs him to be.

The woman teaching our class is a mother of three, two she birthed at a birth center and her 13mo old was born at home. There is only one other couple in our class (the most allowed in one class is six couples) and they were incredibly friendly and exciting to talk to. We left feeling energized, excited and looking forward to next Saturday. We even stopped at the grocery store on our way home with a new found resolve to fill the gaps in our diet right then and there. Part of this weeks assignment, along with our exercise and relaxation, is to record what we're eating and mark off our servings as we consume them through the day. We'll see how I do. It didn't occur to me until we were going over it in class that while I've embraced apples over the last few weeks...I've pretty much stopped eating any leafy greens, citrus, or...you get the idea. *GOAL* I WILL do better this week! I will! :)

Daddy Demonstrates Baby Bijorn

Tonight I came downstairs to find Adam strapping on the Baby Bijorn for practice. He then kindly explained how it would work with oo1 strapped in.

Example 1: "See, imagine this is her head..."

Example 2: "...this is where her arms will go..."

Example 3: "...and her legs will go here."

It was almost like she was right there! ;)