40 weeks!

Tomorrow is the day, we are less than 24 hours from having a baby!!!  Here is 40 weeks of belly changes (click on image for bigger view). I've gained 10.8lbs as of this morning from pre-pregnancy weight.

I'm excited and nervous about tomorrow. Which one I am more changes moment my moment.  I'm nervous about the c-section and nervous about being a new mom but super excited to finally get to meet our little girl.    I'm off work today and have just been trying to get some last minute stuff done around the house so that when we come home I'll be comfy. With the c-section I won't be up doing much for awhile so I wanted to have as much done as possible.

That's all for now, see you on the other side of the bump!

Single digits!

8 days left!!! I am....large.

I hit 10lbs on the weight gain this morning so baby needs to come out now! :D

Not much news, just waiting now. C Section is a week from tomorrow. This is my last week of work, trying to get stuff wrapped up so other people can manage for the next 12-15 weeks is challenging. 

My feet have been swelling pretty bad again, it looks weird when my feet are swollen but my toes are not. 

I'm ready for baby to come out now, the waiting is making me anxious and I'm very physically uncomfortable. As big as she is I don't know how but she's still doing gymnastics and kicking me in my organs. I have a lot of trouble breathing these days too.  No real signs of labor, my doctor wouldn't even check my cervix at my appointment last week she said "baby is not coming out that way, it does not matter". Well lady, it would be nice to know if there is any progress. I was irritated.  She is out of town this week so I see the other OB in the practice that I really like this Wednesday.  

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. 

Glucose and pain and other what nots....

24 weeks, viability, yay!!! Now that being said, this little girl needs to stay in and cook longer! 

Since the last post I've been to see the chiropractor twice and been to pre-natal yoga twice, my back is not really much better than it was before. 

I've been having some issues with constipation (totally new for me) and that in turn is causing me a pain in the bum, like, literally. Sorry for the TMI. I've had this same pain twice in the past, once when I had a bout of colitis coupled with a ruptured hemorrhagic ovarian cyst and the other time after my IVF egg retrieval. It appears to be related to digestion coupled with swollen girly parts (inside parts), I guess it just happens that mine are swollen and full of baby.  Hopefully this passes soon, its a pain in the ass, ha ha. 

Baby girl has been moving around a lot lately, you can see it from the outside now pretty easily and Matthew finally felt her kick for the first time this morning 

I saw my OB last week and my MFM today, the only new issue to report is my groin pain (not the pain in the ass, this is an ache in my pelvic region at the end of the day) is my pubic bones separating. Apparently this happens to all pregnant women but is happening to me early due to my EDS. It's not so bad unless I overdo it.  My MFM said that while I was still at risk for pre-term labor due to my EDS that I was in no immediate danger since my cervix has looked good so far. He talked to me about what to look for in terms of contractions and said that most women usually begin to feel them by 28 weeks.  I talked to him about my anesthesia concerns and he advised me to talk to the anesthesiologist but that the kind they use for epidurals should not be affected by my EDS because its local not systemic. 

In other news I had my 1 hour glucose tolerance test today, and.... I failed it, by TWO points, 2 freaking points!  So now I have to go have the 3 hour test, ugh, not looking forward to that, that icky orange drink

makes me feel like crap the rest of the day.

Here is my 24 week belly

Oh, and here is when I'm sitting looking down!

Looks like I finally "popped"

So here is my weight change since becoming pregnant. It's pretty easy to see where the morning sickness kicked in. Lowest weight was at 18 weeks, I'm at 24 weeks now and have been on an upward trend for a few weeks but am still about 10 pounds down from where I started.  

22 weeks

Not much new to report other than back pain.  Every morning I wake up with my lower back in extreme pain. I did something I never thought I'd do, I made an appointment with a chiropractor. I know this pain is only going to get worse and I have to do something. I found a Chiro who is familiar with EDS and is willing to work with me.  My appointment with him is Thursday, I'll report back.  I also signed up for a prenatal Yoga class that starts next week, hoping that will help as well.

My only other complaint is the heat. A full on St. Louis summer plus being pregnant do not mix. I get overheated at the drop of a hat, I can't be outdoors for more than 5 minutes without getting sick.  It was 106 when I got in my car yesterday after work.  My remote start is broken so I can't even cool it down before I get in (yeah, first world problem, I know). I have an appointment on Friday to get that fixed.

I've started the process to find a daycare and WOW is that a process! Apparently 7+ months out from needing care is too late to start looking.  So far I've contacted 4 of the 6 centers that take infants and would not be a complete pain in the ass to drop/off pickup at.  I've visited 2 of the 4 so far. One has no availability until April, the other has an opening in mid-February.  I'm going to see what comes from these 4 visits then contact the other 2 if I need to.  I spent an hour and a half at KinderCare yesterday, the babies are so cute!

Weight wise, I gained a couple of pounds last week and figured that was the start of the upward trend, but then I lost it again this week, so still holding steady pretty much.  Here is the 22 week bump.  I still have days where I just look fat and not pregnant, actually most days.

I've had a couple dizzy spells, I'm going to have to be more diligent about my fluids as my BP has dropped again.  3 quarts is not enough, has to be a gallon apparently. Good to know, I can handle that. 

Her movements are getting stronger, not able to really feel from the outside yet but I am hoping soon so hubs can feel her.  

I thought I didn't have much to say this morning but I ended up rambling like usual, that's about it for now though. 

Here is a progression pic for the past month

Anatomy Scan

Today was the anatomy scan, and everything looked great! All of her parts looked good and she is weighing in at 15 ounces! 4 weeks ago she was 6 ounces so that's quite a growth spurt! This is the only profile shot we got since they were more concerned with her insides today.

Here is me today as well. I've been feeling her move a lot more and the ultrasound tech commented on how active she is.

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!!!

Updates!

Okay, I won't make you wait this time since I've been bad about posting updates. Here is the ultrasound from June 9th.  Little girl is doing good and measuring on track. She weighed in at approximately 6 ounces that day.

My cervical length was good (4.8 cm) and all of her organs look good so far, they will do more checking when they do the next scan on the 8th of July.

I went in for an appointment with my MFM specialist today. I'd had an echocardiogram a couple weeks ago to check for heart abnormalities due to my Ehlers-Danlos and that looks good.

I also talked to him about my dizzy spells, they have gotten SO much worse, they are happening now even when I am sitting down, its disconcerting. He said there is nothing they can do about them, its common in pregnancy especially when then woman has low blood pressure to begin with. He said it should peak by 20-24 weeks (to which my reaction was "OMG its going to get WORSE???) then start to get better.   I'm starting to be concerned about driving, we'll see how it goes I guess.

We've gotten two cute baby gifts so far, people are great.

Some progress has been made on cleaning out the room for the nursery but not much, gotta work on that this weekend, the dizziness makes that slow work.

All of my brain power is being taken by the fetus.  Getting dressed this morning, pulled a cardigan out of the closet then decided I wanted a different one. Placed the first one back on the hanger and went get the other one but instead took the first one out. Repeat 2 MORE times before I gave up.  I finally got the right cardigan when I started to walk out the door and realized I was chilly.

I think she's been sitting on my colon the past few days, had a bit of an IBS flare up and oh boy does THAT hurt!

Had my first pregnancy related confrontation yesterday, We were in the airport, not much time before our flight and dining choices limited. Decided to grab subway for hubs and I. Ask for Italian for myself and ask them to throw the meat in the microwave and heat it up before putting it on the sandwich. Girl, maybe the manager? Asks me why! First of all none of your business, anyway tell her I'm pregnant and it needs to be heated. She then tells me that is an old wives tale and she knows because she had 4 kids. My response, " you do what you want with you and your kids but this is me and my kid and I want the meat heated" Ugh. THEN I got back to my gate to eat and it was STILL cold! Double ugh!!

Regardless of your views on listeria and eating lunch meat while pregnant it's MY prerogative what I want to eat! I was so annoyed.

Oh, and I have the most awesome husband. We'd been away on a fishing trip for a few days and kept passing by a Dairy Queen, however whenever I decided I wanted it they were already closed. After we got home yesterday he went out and got me dairy queen!

So far weight has stayed about the same for a month. Still down 14lbs from pre-pregnancy. Maternity pants feel more comfortable every day though!

15 weeks

Here is my 15 week pictures, still not much difference. I weighed in at 231.2 this morning, so just about the same as last week.   Below is a graph of my weight loss since being pregnant, it has leveled off quite a bit since I started taking the Unisom.

This week has brought a return of my morning sickness, I had to go back to taking a half a Unisom at night, I'd cut down to almost none.  I also have started getting round ligament pain, mostly on my right side, the first one scared me.  In addition I've started back with the dizzy spells, those are quite annoying. 

Other than all of that I feel pretty good. If I feel around my lower abdomen I can feel the hardness that is my uterus. 

I'm on pins and needles waiting for the results of the Panorama test, I hope we get them back this week. 

Appointments, appointments and more appointments

Wednesday I went and had the blood draw for the Panorama blood test which will tell us the baby's risk for the trisomies and also the gender, that takes 7-10 days to come back.

Then I went for another ultrasound at the Maternal Fetal Medicine center. I really liked the sonographer, she was super nice. Even though an NT scan had not been ordered she was able to get the  measurement and did it anyway (measurement was 1.8 and anything under 2.5 is good) and made a gender guess of girl! Baby is growing on schedule with the revised due date and looks good so far.  Heart Rate was 167.

After that I went up to see the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist who is consulting due to my age and the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. He asked me a bunch of questions and seemed happy with how I was progressing. He ordered an echocardiogram to rule out any problems with my heart and I have to go back for ultrasounds once a month to check my cervical length (yay, more pictures).

So I have 4 appointments coming up in the next month, its a good thing my boss is understanding!

We did our facebook announcement while we were on vacation. 

 As of this week I've lost 14 pounds so far. My nausea is starting to get better, I've cut back on the unisom, that has increased my fatigue though which is weird because I didn't know it was helping with that. 

Oh, and I cry over anything now, hormones are crazy! I'm not a cryer but I cry at least once a day, so weird for me!

Rest and relaxation at last

A week of laying on the beach doing nothing sure does do a lot for your mental state.  Just got back from Mexico where I did virtually nothing for a week, it was really nice.

Here is me, haven't weight at home in a week but according to the scale at the hotel I'm down a few more pounds. I enjoyed a lot of fresh fruit, fresh juices and french fries :)

Left to right is 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 11 weeks and almost 13 weeks.

Here is me in my swimsuit, I felt pretty good in it, the boobs look pretty awesome :D  Anyway, that's it for now. 

Belly pics

Here is me. 11 weeks 5 days. 233 pounds. 

9 week update

Sorry I haven't been posting much have been stupid busy at work and by the time I get home I am just done and can't really function.  So here is a breakdown of what's going on with me and baby

Weight: still losing a bit, not as fast though

Nausea: its been pretty bad most days, I've been dry heaving quite a bit, brushing my teeth is an exercise in self-control. I found that taking Unisom before bed helps with nausea the next day but I don't want to take that every night.

Boob soreness: this is starting to dissipate some, my nipples are still extremely tender and sensitive though.

Mood: still irritable as all get out, some of that could just be work stress though

Food Cravings/Aversions: Still off dairy it just does not appeal to me at all, not big on sweets for the most part. Salty carbs are what I eat the most of but I try to get some protein in when I can. I had two days where I craved buffalo chicken.

Fatigue: still present and accounted for, I'm in bed by 9pm most night but I'm not falling asleep at my desk during the day anymore, mostly because I've been too busy.

Digestion: I mostly still have the same digestion as before, 2-3 days of diarrhea followed by a day or two of not going at all.

Had my first migraine while pregnant the other day, was able to head it off by slamming down an extra cup of coffee.

My clothes are starting to fit differently even though I'm losing weight, my boobs are overflowing my bra and my lower stomach is pooching out a bit, especially at the end of the day.  I still worry about being one of those women that so fat no one can tell they are pregnant.

belly pics

So I keep forgetting to do this!!! here is just about a month apart, loose shirt in the first one so hard to tell but as you can see I've lost a few pounds.