36 Weeks and Disappointed

Today was my 36 week appointment. I had the lovely group B strep test, and an ultrasound to check the position of baby. And that's when the appointment turned from carefree and happy to disappointing. Our baby is breech, with his/her head and (and possibly feet) up near my right rib cage. I have an external version scheduled for Sunday at exactly 37 weeks in hopes that they can get baby to turn head down. I am not looking forward to this as there is a small risk of complications and only about a 50% success rate. I have also heard it is quite painful. However, they will do it in the hospital so that should any issues arise, they can perform an emergency c-section. This is basically my only choice if I have any hope of a vaginal birth. If baby doesn't turn, then we will schedule a c-section during the 39th week. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. I know that at the end of the day, the only thing that matters about giving birth is that baby and mommy are healthy. But I loved my birth experience with Noah and want nothing more than to deliver this baby the same way. I know there are worse things in life than needing a c-section. And believe me, I would much rather be here facing this possibility than getting the 4th, 5th, or 6th negative beta phone call. I am so blessed to even be pregnant with this baby. So I'll try to come to terms with this, and hope beyond hope that the version works and baby doesn't move again. According to my mom, I was breech and her version worked. I was an August baby as well. Maybe it's a stubborn girl after all?

How Far Along: 36w3d

How Big Is Baby: According to BabyCenter baby is the size of a head of romaine lettuce. They guesstimate a weight of almost 6 pounds and length of 18.5”. I doubt that very much.

Sex: I have no idea. I still guess boy.

Symptoms: Lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, many of which make it difficult to walk or breathe. Some swelling in my ankles (and calves if I’ve been particularly active). Occasional heartburn. Insane pelvic pain and pressure. It feels like my pubic bone is a wish-bone about to be snapped in half.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really.

Belly Button: Ridiculously popped. I have given up on feeling self-conscious about how much it shows through my shirts.

Sleep: I still sleep through the night, but my hips and pelvis are none too happy each morning. I wonder if the pelvic pain is related to baby’s breech position.

Stretch Marks: The old ones appear more noticeable now, but I don’t think any new ones have arrived yet.

Weight Gain: I am up about 30 total. I weighed in at 138.2 this morning. I am very pleased to see the gain level off, and I think I’ve done a great job of gaining what they wanted me to.

Maternity Clothes: All day every day. Overnight I am mostly wearing some of Brian’s larger t-shirts but I’m running out of options.

Movement: Baby is still moving around a lot, gets hiccups several times a day, and assaults my cervix several times a week. Baby seems to be most active during the morning and later evening.

What I Miss: Feeling normal. I don’t even remember what that’s like. I am pretty tired of how sore my pelvis is and can’t wait for that pain to end.

What I’m Looking Forward To: Hearing the doctor tell me that the version was a success. (I can hope, right?)

Best Moment This Week: Finally getting paint started in the nursery! We were originally thinking a light grey with aqua, lime, and yellow accents. Then I realized that I actually really wanted an aqua nursery. The color is called Jamaican Aqua, and I love it! As for additional decorating, I am trying to find the motivation.

Milestones: We have hit the point of no return. If I go into labor at this point, there is no stopping me.

The Bump:

34 Weeks

Yesterday was my "32 week appointment," which didn't actually happen until 34 weeks since we were out of town. I brought up my only concern which is frequent, strong Braxton Hicks. The nurse did a cervical length check and told me that anything over 2cm was the goal at this point. The first measurement was just over 3cm, and the second was just under 3cm, so everything looks fine. Good to know, because I don't want to meet this baby until at least 37 weeks, and preferably not until 39-40. Other than that, my BP is staying consistent and everything looks good. Baby's heart rate was around 149bpm, still higher than Noah who by this point was low 130s. Still not sure that it means anything.

How Far Along: 34w2d

How Big Is Baby: According to BabyCenter, baby is about the size of a cantaloupe. Weight estimates at 34 weeks are 4.75lbs and length estimates are 18 inches. Again, I would guess this baby is measuring below both of those stats considering Noah was born at 40w2d and he was 6lb12oz and 19.5”, and I was only 6lbs8oz myself (8 days past my due date).

Sex: I am sticking with my boy prediction. Brian and Noah also think it’s a boy. My mom and dad are both saying girl.

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks contractions all. the. time. Baby often still feels super low. I have had a couple more ocular migraines. I am so over them. I wish I knew how to prevent them, but staying hydrated and resting doesn’t seem to do jack. I have on and off swelling in my feet, ankles, and calves.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Not much lately.

Belly Button: Yup, still out.

Sleep: Readjusting to high altitude after spending a month in MN has not been easy. The first couple nights I couldn’t fall asleep, and once I did I woke up all the time. The third night I fell asleep okay but then I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. (Side note, that night at 4:45am I heard mountain lions meowing and screaming outside. Very eerie, and didn’t help me fall back asleep either!) Last night I finally had a good night of sleep again. I hope it continues. My hips are getting achier and rolling over is becoming an Olympic event, one in which I am NOT medaling.

Stretch Marks: Nothing new, yet.

Weight Gain: Well, while in MN I indulged in a lot of peanut M&M’s, chubby hubby, and ice cream bars. Our scale this week showed me fluctuating between 139.5-141.5, which is officially the heaviest I have ever been. My feet and legs were quite swollen though. At the OB however, I weighed 137.2, so I’m up about 28-29 pounds. For the record, my final total with Noah was 28 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: All day every day. I have a limited number of tank tops and t-shirts, and although I would like more variety and less frequent laundering of what I do have, it seems silly to go out and buy anything this late in the game.

Movement: Oh yes, sometimes I think this baby is already training to be a gymnast or contortionist. And lately, s/he has decided that my bedtime is the perfect time to really go nuts! The nurse confirmed that baby’s rear end is sticking out to the left side of my abdomen. At my next appointment in 2 weeks they’ll do an ultrasound to confirm how baby is positioned.

What I Miss: Not having Braxton Hicks contractions all the time. Sleeping through the night every night.

What I’m Looking Forward To: Now that we’re home I am looking forward to getting things in order around here for the new baby. We have assembled the crib, but that’s about it. Lots left to do!!

Best Moment This Week: Nothing in particular comes to mind, but it’s good to be home.

Milestones: Another week down!

The Bump:

And for fun, a comparison between my two pregnancies.

Is it just me, or do I actually look like I'm carrying a little higher this time? That's incredibly hard for me to believe based on how I feel! Hmmm.

The Annual Minnesota Trip

I don't always love my job. Spending most days getting insulted and disrespected by 3rd-5th grade students with "emotional disabilities" takes its toll on me. This school year I was spit on, sworn at, called every name in the book, and dodged furniture either being thrown or tipped over in my direction. One of the things that gets me through each week is the knowledge that each summer, I get around 10 weeks off to enjoy life work and mostly stress-free. And the best part is that it allows us the opportunity to enjoy our home state of Minnesota during its best season!

The new lake has lots of pelicans!

My OB recommended flying over driving, so Noah and I flew and poor Brian drove solo. In order to allow Brian to pick us up from the airport on each leg of the trip, I booked evening flights. Big mistake. Both of our flights to and from MN were delayed. Frontier apologized by giving me $60 in vouchers, but I don't think I'll ever be using them! Despite our bad fortune in on-time departures, Noah was his usual silly self in the airports and made everyone smile. I'm so lucky to have such an easy, funny kid!

Flying on his dragon on the way to our gate at MSP.

We left just two days after my last training of the year, in time to attend my step-dad Ed's retirement party on June 13th. We usually try to avoid starting our trip so early into summer because the weather can still be pretty iffy through early June. However our plan was to stay a month so in order to accomplish that before travel restrictions were put on me, we had to make it as early as possible. We avoided the lake place right away because Ed's siblings were in town and they all headed out there for a rainy weekend of fishing. Brian and I instead spent the first week with his parents. We had dinner with my brother-in-law and his wife, Brian's grandparents, and we also had dinner one night with Brian's aunt and uncle. It's always such a treat to see extended family since it happens so rarely for us. Most of the week with my in-laws included rain, so we weren't super adventurous. We did make a few trips to the country club pool, and Noah was once again brave enough to try the water slide. He asked me to catch him, but being super pregnant didn't make it very easy. He did it once and then chickened out on his second attempt. But he did it again a couple of weeks later when Papa Tom was willing to catch him. Brian got in a few rounds of golf on drier days. We also went to see the new How to Train Your Dragon movie. Noah was upset at a few parts. The second movie is definitely scarier than the first! In between all of these events, we also spent a couple of evenings with my dad, and saw my best friend from high school and her son. We only see each other once a year, so it's pretty wild to see her little baby suddenly turned into a walking toddler. All of us attended a Twins game, and they actually won!

At the pool:

How amazing is this picture? I die.

Other fun:

Catching turtles in the backyard

At the park

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Catching frogs at Papa Jeff's

Twins Win!

After a week, we headed out to my parents' new cabin. We spent several evenings cruising the lake on the new pontoon, and fished off the dock. A couple of nights we had bonfires in the firepit, and Noah ate s'mores and lit sparklers (or as he sometimes pronounced, sprinklers). Each evening after Noah went through the whole "everyone must come sing to me" routine, the adults stayed up and played Phase 10. I lost every single round until the very last game on the very last night. I've never had such bad luck before! A couple of nights I also put in drink requests for Brian so that I could sample a couple of sips of my mom's favorite cocktails. It was so hard spending 2+ weeks at the cabin without indulging in margaritas and stormy nights. Ah well, totally worth it! On the 4th we played some lawn games, cruised the lake, and had a fire at night. We thought about going into town for fireworks, but decided to stick around the lake and see how people out there celebrate. It was a great idea, because all of the surrounding neighbors had to have spent hundreds of dollars each on their own displays. And it definitely went on sporadically for a lot longer than a typical fireworks show. Plus, no traffic and crowds! 

Learning to swim. Kind of.

On the 4th I posted this on FaceBook and claimed that I ate more hot dogs than Joey Chestnut.

Baking patriotic cookies and being silly

It's crazy to think that next year, another tiny little person who we know so little about right now will be in all of these pictures. So exciting, and I can't wait!

33 Weeks

How Far Along: 33w2d

How Big Is Baby: This week's food comparisons include a pineapple or a durian fruit (never heard of it). Baby should measure around 17 inches and weigh around 4 pounds. Maybe. I think I tend to grow smaller babies.

Sex: It's much easier for me to picture another little boy. Last night I had a baby girl dream, and I was so excited because I have loved our girl name for years, but I still think it'll be a boy.

Symptoms: I'm still having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, and I've had a couple more ocular migraines. Today baby has felt very low and ready to escape. Some days I feel like I'll be really lucky to make it to full term.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Give me all the candy! And ice cream!

Belly Button: Out. I don't know why I even include this anymore.

Sleep: We changed the mattress I was sleeping on since my last post, and things have improved again. I wake up to pee occasionally, but most nights I sleep straight through til morning. I am completely amazed by this.

Stretch Marks: No new ones yet.

Weight Gain: I haven't weighed myself since my 28 week OB appointment.

Maternity Clothes: Again, I don't know why I include this anymore. I live in maternity wear, and so far everything still fits.

Movement: Continued hiccups, although maybe not quite as often. Lots of pushing feet against my ribs. I've had a couple instances of sharp pains in my cervix. I remember with Noah I likened it to the feeling of someone scratching you with fingernails from the inside. So pleasant.

What I Miss: Same as always: picking up Noah. (And I will miss being in Minnesota.)

What I’m Looking Forward To: Sleeping in my own bed and being able to use the bench in our own shower again! We are Colorado bound tomorrow! I am also looking forward to my "32 week appointment," which will actually be taking place at 34 weeks since we've been in MN since mid-June. Although I don't think there's anything to be concerned about, it's been a long time since I've had any prenatal appointments and I would like reassurance that everything is still on track and looking good.

Best Moment This Week: On Sunday we went to my in-laws' country club and swam. It was so amazing to be able to hold Noah and cuddle with him in the water! He's still such a mama's boy, and a total snuggle bug.

Milestones: Another week closer!

The Bump:

I didn't take a formal picture this week, but we took our annual family portrait in front of the lake at 32w6d. Last one as a family of 3! The funny thing about this picture is that when I reviewed the images on the camera, I was taken aback at my large tummy. I'm so used to a similar looking picture each year, and my brain temporarily forgot that I'm massively pregnant this year!