37 week OB appointment

I had my weekly appointment this morning. After over 24 hours of on and off Braxton Hicks and feeling like my hip was dislocating from my leg, we were sure that we were going to go in today and have the doctor tell us that we need to get this show on the road.

The Braxton Hicks barely took breaks all day yesterday and today. I started to hurt so bad because there was no relief from the tension. My belly has been sore all day today.

We got to the appointment and it went really fast. He immediately went to listen for the heartbeat and this little guy wasn't having it. Everytime the doctor would start to count beats, baby boy would squirm or make it hard to hear. You could physically see him kicking and rolling around on my stomach so he knew everything was fine. The doctor literally gave up haha.

The OB asked how much Dave and I were at birth. Both of us were relatively small (I was 6 lbs 4 oz and Dave was 6 lbs 7 oz). They use that to try and make a growth estimate. He was feeling around my belly and goes, "This is definitely bigger than a 6 lbs baby." Haha. We have a healthy boy on our hands. :)

He wouldn't check me because I could be completely not dilated and have the baby tonight or be two centimeters dilated and 75% effaced and stay that way for the next two weeks. There's just no telling so why check? I get that.

Walking out the door though he told me, "You can go into labor any day now. We are ready for you!" I can't believe there is only 19 days until my due date. He really is almost here!

Week 37

Week 37

How far along? 37 weeks 

How are you feeling? Pretty good. I'm sleeping longer stretches, which I think is God's way of giving me a break before going months without really sleeping. 

Baby is the size of a(n): bunch of Swiss chard (it looks like a huge thing of lettuce). He is around 6 1/3 lbs and 19 inches long.

Cravings: Root beer and water. 

Aversions: Nothing I can think of this week.

Testing/appts this week? I have my 37-week appointment on Tuesday. I need to do one more Lamictal trough level before the baby comes, but I'm waiting until next week for that.

Milestones?: it's not really a milestone, but the baby's room is finished with the exception of putting his name above the crib. 

Nursery

This is a panoramic view of our nursery. The rest of the decal still needs to go up, but we are putting his name above the crib so we are waiting to name him and put that up before completely finishing. I think it looks great, though.

I'm going to be 37 weeks tomorrow and I can't believe it. We are soooo ready for him to be here and for me not to be pregnant anymore :)

Week 36

Week 36

How far along? 36 weeks 

How are you feeling? With the exception of my feet swelling and my hips still hurting if I try to do too much, pretty good. Two days ago, I had these weird dizzy/nausea spells for what seemed like no reason. Overall though, I think I'm more comfortable than most pregnant women at this stage.

Baby is the size of a(n): head of romaine lettuce. He's around 6 lbs and 18 1/2 inches long.

Cravings: Milk. Lots and lots of milk. He must be growing.

Aversions: My father-in-law and other family members were drinking eggnog last night. No thanks. Ew.

Testing/appts this week? Tomorrow is my 36-week appointment. After that I go weekly since he could come at any time.

Milestones?: Today, I am official 9 months pregnant. We get to meet out baby boy soon!

Week 35

Week 35

How far along? 35 weeks 

How are you feeling? Oh my lord, the hip pain!  If I lay down or walk for too long, my hip feels like it's going to break off. Also, my allergies have been pretty bad, so I'm cranky.

Baby is the size of a(n): Honeydew melon. Over 18 inches long and 5 1/4 lbs.

Cravings: Nothing really. Although, yesterday, you would've thought I was dehydrated or something. All I wanted was water. And I probably had well over 80 oz.

Aversions: Nothing this week.

Testing/appts this week? No more testing or appts until next Monday (12/23). That'll be my 36-week appointment and after that I go weekly.

Milestones?: Dave and I did more nursery stuff yesterday. We bought a rug for the room and curtains (although, the curtains are going to be exchanged). We also set up the changing pad and Dave might put up the decal today. I'm going to be washing the baby clothes today and putting them away. God forbid he comes early and we have no clothes lol.

Baby Shower #2

I just realized that I never posted about this.

My mom threw my shower at one of my favorite Italian restaurants. She did a star/teddy bear-theme (like our nursery). Everything turned out really, really nice. She even did a banner of my bump pictures (I've been taking weekly bump growth pictures - just not posting them here. I'll post one before the baby is born). The banner started with two really special photos, though: 1) A picture of Dave and me from our wedding, titled, "Where it all began..." 2) A picture of me holding my youngest nephew, around the time we got pregnant, titled, "Pregnant - and doesn't know it, yet!!"

I saw both of these and became a blubbering mess. I instantly started crying and I couldn't stop, haha. It was just so sweet.

The weather was insane. We got a horrible snow storm and roads were being shut down. Only 6 out of 25 people made it. Dave and my brother even came back (so, total 8). My in-laws didn't even make it. I felt so terrible for my mom. She put in so much work and effort and this was completely out of her control. Regardless, the party went on! We played two games. The first was a baby-related word scramble (which was really hard!) and the second was a candy-match game (example: "post-partum mommy physique" Jelly Bellies, haha). Both were really cute and we had a lot of fun. :)

My mom truly did a great job. I had a lot of fun and appreciated everything she worked so hard on. There's tons of people that are excited for Baby Mory and we can't wait until he makes his arrival so we can introduce everyone to him :) I'll post some pictures a bit later, once I have more time.

Blood work results

My Lamictal level came back yesterday. Gary called me to tell me that everything came back normal and to just continue to do what I'm doing. The level came back at a 4.

I'm so happy that throughout this entire pregnancy, we've only had to raise the medicine once. We are in the home stretch and he's doing great.

Just have to get through the next 5.5 weeks to make sure we have a happy, healthy boy :)