Catch up, 36 weeks

Okay, I've been horrible about posting!   To make up for the lack of pics how about a progression from the beginning until now?

wow, that's a lot of pictures!  :D

Okay, so is going on.  Let's see, I'm 36 weeks, I have a growth scan tomorrow to see how big she's gotten.  When I was at the doctor last week my cervix was closed but "a little" thinned and baby was breech, she turns really often still though so I'm not really worried about that.  I spotted and cramped after the check for 2 days, had to call about that since I've been cautioned to call about anything out of the ordinary but they said that's normal.  I had my group b strep test and that came back clear which is very good.

Oh, yeah, I broke my foot.

Fell down a single stair and my ankle gave way, broke my heel and sprained my ankle. I lasted a week in the boot before I had to ditch it as it made my hips and back feel like they were coming apart. 

Much progress has been made on the nursery, its pretty much done except organization, here is a bad pano of it.

We had a wonderful baby shower and my brother came down. We got so many wonderful things at the shower and before and after including sooo many beautiful handmade things that just overwhelm me with joy. 

We had some maternity pictures taken, here is one I love by Carlagraphs 

My right foot was already swelling more than my left but since I broke it it swells A LOT more! It jiggles when I walk by the end of the day. 

I've got the hospital bag almost packed, we need to put in the car seats. I have puppy pads everywhere I sit often in case my water breaks.  We have 2 more classes left on our labor, breastfeeding and newborn series.  

Here is a pic of my belly all distorted when she flips around. 

Yesterday she was in a weird position putting strange pressure on my bladder where I felt like I couldn't pee right all day then last night right before bed I was folding laundry when all of a sudden, I pee my pants. Oops, then had to play the "pee or amniotic fluid" game. I went pee and it didn't happen anymore so I decided pee and went to bed. She's moving around like normal today so everything seems fine. 

That's about all I can think of right now, weight is holding pretty steady, I'm at + 4 pounds for the pregnancy so far.  Will try to remember to post again after scan tomorrow.  

33 weeks

I haven't posted in awhile but everything is good, just been crazy busy.

Our girl is doing well. We had a growth scan last Wednesday at 32+2 and she was measuring at 5lbs! that is 59th percentile for weight!! She's on track to be a big baby! I have another scan at 36 weeks to check again. Look at those chubby cheeks!!!

As for me, well the back pain gets bad some days and I still don't sleep well, its really hard to get comfortable.  I'm looking very pregnant these days and I think I'm starting to waddle.  I can't stand up for more than about an hour at a time otherwise I start getting braxton-hicks pretty bad.

I've also reached another milestone and that is reaching my pre-pregnancy weight.  Here is me at 4 weeks (just got positive test a few days before) and me at 33 weeks, I weigh the same in both of these photos.

Here is another belly comparison (sorry/not sorry for all the naked belly pics). Since I was overweight before becoming pregnancy my belly hangs down a bit at the bottom (one of the reasons my back hurts I think). Here is a comparison of my belly with no support and me with my hand pulling it up a bit from the top which is basically how my support band keeps it positioned. 

We started our childbirth classes last week, its a 6 week series that includes newborn care and breastfeeding.  It was pretty interesting but makes for a long day.  I'm supposed to have my labor support bag packed by next week, ack!!!

What else...

We've made a lot of progress on the nursery finally! Still got a lot to do but most of its organization at this point. 

I had to start taking magnesium because of horrible leg cramps that won't go away, it  helps a lot!

Baby shower is this coming weekend, my brother is coming down for that and we'll video conference in the family birthday party going on in Minnesota.   I'm excited for that. 

Crazy dreams still abound, I give birth just about every night as I sleep now. 

way to go cervix!!

This is the last week of the second trimester and my cervix is holding strong with good measurements! yay!

Baby girl is also doing well, she is measuring right on track size wise but weight wise she is in 75th percentile! Chubby baby. Last estimated weight at the ultrasound last week was 1 pound 14 ounces which is exactly double her weight from 4 weeks previous.  Heart rate was a little high at 179 but tech said it goes up and down.

After all the measurements were done I fished a little and the ultrasound tech (nicest one EVER) turned on 4d for us! We got to see her in 3d but LIVE, it was SOOO freaking cool!  She kept putting her hands up in front of her face but we got a few good pics.

If everything continues to be good I won't have to go back to the Maternal Fetal Care center anymore, I have another appointment with the MFM in September so technically I'm still high risk but all the docs are pleased with how everything is going. 

Pain wise, well that comes and goes, I have days where I feel almost normal then I have days where walking is almost impossible. I have found that I can't be on my feet for more than 20-30 minutes at a time and I can't bend from the waist, both of those things trigger pain.  I have Yoga tonight, I'll have to tell teacher I can't bend from the waist but I think the yoga actually helps so I want to keep going.  I need to start walking on the days I feel good but I'm kind of concerned with getting very far from home and having a bad pain episode with no where to sit down. 

Other symptoms, my hands have started to swell a little, blood pressure is holding steady and I drink tons of water so must just be pregnancy.  Its not bad, just enough to make my rings tight once in awhile.

I do seem to be on an upward trend for my weight, I have days where I am starving! Last night 2 hours after dinner I ate a bagel with cream cheese, a pickle, some grapes and a handful of nuts and then was hungry again before bed but didn't eat again. Guess little girl doubling her weigh every month will do that!

How far along?  26 weeks!  

Total weight gain: -7.6lbs!   

Baby is the size of: bowling pin

Maternity clothes:  bought a few new shirts last week

Stretch marks: None that I didn't already have

Sleep: what's sleep? I toss and turn a lot from back pain

Best moment this week: I was sitting in a meeting with my hands crossed across my stomach and she was kicking so hard she was moving my hands

Miss anything? Beer

Movement: She's quiet when I'm up moving but if I sit down and get quiet she starts dancing

Food cravings: green grapes

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really

Labor signs: Nope.

Symptoms: Back pain, gas, heartburn, pelvic pain 

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: Getting the stuff cleaned out of the nursery room

Oh and here is a quick reference on the months/weeks thing

Halfway There!

20 weeks! Halway there! According to my app the baby is supposedly the size of a cantaloupe, I just can't see that!

My weight is staying steady, I've been within 2 pounds of the same weight for 2 months now. I guess I'm losing at roughly the same rate baby weight is gaining, its kind of odd.  Today I am 1.2lbs above where I was a month ago but 1.4lbs BELOW what I was 2 months ago, so yeah, right about the same.  This graph starts at 4/1 when I was just around 7 weeks along, through this morning.

Blood pressure has been down again but the dizzy spells have not gotten bad so maybe my body is adjusting.  Here is a snapshot of my BP readings over the past week or so (I don't update my weight in this app, its just in there from when I set it up).

I think the actual food cravings have started, this week it was pierogies, I finally found some at the grocery store yesterday and plan on having those for dinner.  Unfortunately the horrible taste in my mouth and occasional nausea has also returned. 

Sleeping has become and issues as I can no longer sleep on my back, it makes it hard to breath so I turn from side to side all night long. 

My Ehlers-Danlos (EDS) has escalated significantly over the past couple weeks. I'm having to tape the knuckles on the first two fingers of my left hand to try to keep them in place.  The Relaxin hormone on top of the EDS makes me a very Gumby girl right now. 

The only other new symptom I guess is the pretty much constant gas!!!

Maternity Clothes

They say the clothes make the man, or in this case woman...

I've struggled with clothes since my boobs came in when I was about 16.  Being overweight makes it worse of course.  So I was not at all looking forward to shopping for maternity clothes but it became a necessity.

I'm of average height (5'7"), weigh in at around 230, I'm short waisted, have an hourglass figure (with a few too many hours in it), am THICK in the thighs and calves (like really) and have huge boobs.

Pros of maternity clothes

• Stretchy waist don't hurt my oh so tender expanding middle
• You look MORE pregnant in maternity clothes, as opposed to just fat (more on this later)

Cons of maternity clothes

• Not made with the short waisted in mind, many of the stretchy parts of the pants come all the way up to my bra
• A lot of the pants have no pockets
• Many of the pants have a pleated look to them, not flattering
• The length of the pants seems to be oddly long
• The shirts tend toward empire waist but my boobs don't fit in most empire waist styles

So here are 3 pictures of me, all within 12 hours so no change in baby bump size, these demonstrate how different clothes make you look either pregnant or fat.

First of all the empire waist shirt makes you look very pregnant

Then I went home and put on my PJ's and just looked fat again

Today I put on tighter fitted maternity tank