Last Check-in Post: 38 Weeks! (plus nursery pics)

38 weeks down, 1 to go! 
PS: I really can do math but c-section is scheduled for next Friday at 39 weeks (if I make it that far)!

I can't believe I'm finally here, just awaiting the birth of my child anytime now. This has been a looong time coming. Not counting the few months after we lost Petey, I have been pregnant since November of 2013. Holy shit. I am ready to hold my little rainbow.

Here's the (likely) final bump pic: 

I cannot believe I am this large.  I don't think the bump pics even do it justice. I went to a baby store earlier in the week and as I approached the register the girl working there said "Oooo! It looks like someone's having twiiiins!!!"  Sigh. I couldn't even get mad at her though - I'd probably think the same thing. (I just wouldn't be dumb enough to say it.)

In the end I only gained 20 lbs in all (though it looks like 40) so I'll be interested to see Jack's birth weight since as of our last appt they are thinking that although his head is big the rest of him will equal out the weight and he might be more like 8lbs at birth.  I'm huge though because there is just so much extra amnio fluid in there! When my water finally breaks I better hold onto something so I don't get swept away in the flood.

Symptoms: PAIN. Just pain. Everything hurts. I am thrilled there is only 1 more week TOPS to go and I am happy that with every passing hour I get closer to having this baby.  38 weeks was our goal and we made it so Jack can come out aaaaany time now :-)

Other stuff: 
-Today is my last day of work until after 4th of July!  I've been "working" exclusively from home for the last few weeks but today is my official last day. It will be nice to not have that weighing on me anymore and I can just focus exclusively on whatever else we have to do before Jack arrives and take all the naps and epsom salt baths I want during the days without feeling guilty, haha.
-This afternoon we met with our new pediatrician who has experience with Achondroplasia and we looooooved him!  I feel like we will be in very good hands and I am so thrilled I made the connection with another Achon mom to get this recommendation.
-Lastly, I haven't attention-whored the nursery on here yet!  Here are some pics:

  
Everything's ready to go! Now we just need our little guy :-)

So barring any other crazy shit happening [and who knows with the way things go with me ;-) ], my next post should be announcing Jack's arrival!  Dear Lord please let it be a safe delivery of a healthy baby.  Please.

Nursery Progress!

I was gonna title this post "AW: Nursery Progress!"  as in, "Attention Whore", but honestly, isn't every post on one's own blog AW-ing? 

Anyway, I'm slowly making progress on the nursery!  Yay!

All the Christmas stuff that was thrown in the spare room has now been packed away and we gave the spare bed to my sister & BIL so the room is finally starting to get cleared out so I can turn it into a nursery!  I've begun to go through the dresser and closet since they are full of my old clothes that I always hoped I would fit in again some day but know that realistically, there is about a zero percent chance I will be that size again.  (Goodwill is about to make out like a bandit.)  

As I clear my old clothes out of the closet, I've started replacing them with baby clothes :-D  That makes me ridiculously happy.  I know we only have a little bit and most of it is probably going to go in drawers anyway but I just can't help but hang them up and gaze them, amazed that we will have a reason to finally USE these cute little things! I told Hubs that and he ribbed me a little about making a big deal about it and then later, told me he went and looked and that he couldn't help but tear up a little seeing them hanging there :'-)

I've also purchased a few more decorative things off of Etsy (like the tree vinyl decal with shelves in the pic) so I'm excited for that stuff to come in. I can't wait to start actually putting everything all together :-)

Big purchase this week though was a glider-recliner!  Yay.  This picture is it but we ordered it in a darker grey to match the nursery decor.  I am very happy with it. It's nice and big and comfy with great lumbar support, a high back, AND it not only glides but also reclines so I can fall asleep in it (which I am sure I will do often). 

So next step is getting the carpet professionally cleaned since it hasn't been done since we moved into this house about 4 years ago. The crib will be arriving in the next 1-2 weeks and then the recliner a few weeks after that. We still need to buy a couple pieces of furniture: I want a long, low bookcase type piece for books and toys, and also some sort of cube like in the tree picture above that will double as a table next to the recliner for when I am nursing.  I also still need to get new shades and curtains for the windows, bedding for the crib, lamps, changing table stuff, a couple more pictures for the walls, etc. etc.  (Ok so maybe there's still a lot to do).  I'm so excited I get to start pulling it all together soon though!!


--End AW--

I passed! (26 weeks)

I have a bunch of exciting updates today:

I passed the glucose test! Yahoo! No GD here!  I am actually shocked I passed and attribute it to being on Metformin. My result was 120 which is good. They want to see it under 140 (although some places say under 130). I am so relieved.  I remember eating a glazed donut last week (still my only true pregnancy craving) and savoring every morsel as I mentally prepared myself to say goodbye to them for the next few months. It was a sad day, haha.  But NOPE!  No GD so bring on the sugary goodness!
 
I had a prenatal appt earlier this week and everything went well. My BP was good, baby's HB was good, and my belly is measuring right at 26 weeks! I've also finally starting gaining weight appropriately and am now up 6 pounds. If I'm somehow magically able to maintain a 1 lb/week gain that would only be a total of about 20 lbs which would be amazing.  We'll see though. 
Here's this week's bump:

Pregnancy wise, I can no longer:

• see my feet (not to mention my lady bits),
• roll over in bed without grunting and huffing like a hippopotamus,
• wear socks without them leaving indents in my ankles (I use the term 'ankles' loosely), or
• wear my engagement ring.

And I think my hand is slowly eating my wedding band. For now it's okay but eventually I'm sure I will need to take it off and run the risk of looking like a teen mom.


NEXT:
We bought a crib last weekend! Ta da!:

It matches the dresser that we already had in the spare room which will stay in the nursery and double as a changing table.  I'm also excited because this is a convertible crib so it will grow with the baby - into a toddler bed, day bed (if we want it to) and then eventually to a full sized (double) bed.  This kid better like it.

It's amazing how much better I feel just getting that ONE thing done. I am feeling slightly less crazy.  Now if I could only get to the 40 million other things on my To Do list...

Last but not least, as of today I officially have just 99 days left until my EDD! Double digits!! Yahoo!  And as Ana pointed out, soon enough I will have just single digit WEEKS left! Ahhh!!  I'm now knocking on 3rd Tri's door.  I'm a bit sad I never did get that elusive 2nd Tri energy everyone talks about (especially since I'm STILL on Zofran daily for nausea - the doc thinks that at this point I'm just going to be one of those women who has nausea throughout the pregnancy) but that's okay. I'm just happy to be moving forward :-)

22 week check-in

How Far Along: 22 weeks (+ a few days)

Baby is the Size of a: Papaya (measuring about a foot long and somewhere around 1 pound during these couple weeks!)

Total Weight Gain: No change: 2.5 lbs

Showing Yet?: Yes and there are certain days (like the day I took this pic) that I feel HUGE.
 
Maternity Clothes?:  Oh yes. I had to order more this week too. And I am learning horizontal stripes do not appear to be my friend, haha!

Stretch Marks?: No new ones

Rings?: Tight. I only wear my engagement ring now when I'm going out and take it off as soon as I get home.  Wedding ring is a little looser so it's still okay but leaves a mark when I take it off. I really hope I'll be able to wear it through the pregnancy but it's not looking good.

Sleep: Hit or miss as usual.

Symptoms: Good news: nausea is lessening! I usually only need Zofran in the middle of the night now and sometimes in the mornings.  
Bad news: I have developed bad headaches. The end of this week was actually a little scary because I was worried the (rather debilitating) headaches were tied to high blood pressure. I ended up buying a BP Cuff to use at home but it was a piece of crap and kept giving me bad readings which was upping my anxiety which, in turn, was upping my BP.  I exchanged it for a much better one and my BP readings have now been normal, thank God. It has not been a fun few days though - Hubs was scared to death that something was majorly wrong and I was developing preeclampsia and we'd lose this baby too. It was a little rough around here. BUT, my BP seems to be good and I think I'm narrowing the headaches down to blood sugar fluctuations. I'm finding I get seriously localized pain shooting through the left side of my head (near/behind my eye) when I eat sugar and also get headaches if I don't eat often enough. Seems to be blood sugar issues to me.  I wonder if this is indicative of increased insulin resistance and/or gestational diabetes? Oy.  For now I am trying to eat very little sugar, making sure to eat regularly, and am continuing to monitor my BP and take it easy just in case.

Food Cravings: SUGAR (of course).  Glazed donuts are still my only real craving but I don't think I can eat them anymore. Sad face. 
Though I am REALLY looking forward to making chicken pot pie this week. Random! haha

Miss Anything?: Just feeling normal/healthy.

Mood: Still good! (When I don't have a massive headache that is)

Best Moment of the Week: I decided to move forward and start buying stuff to decorate the nursery! Here are some of the wall decorations I've ordered off of Etsy. I think they are so cute and am excited to have decided on a theme and colors :-)

I'm sticking with the elephants and giraffes theme with grey/white chevron patterns and decided the colors will be the baby blue and apple green. The walls are actually already this same color as the pic too so it will look similar.  I love it! I'm excited!!

I also ordered this plaque from Etsy as a little "present" for Hubs. It melts me a little bit :'-)

So sweet.

Upcoming Appointments: I have to do my glucose tolerance test sometime in the next few weeks. Should be interesting. Next OB appt though isn't scheduled until Jan 6th(!) due to the holidays.  I'll already be 25 1/2 weeks at that point. That's 6 weeks between appts. Yikes. I wonder if I should push to have it sooner...?

What I'm Looking Forward to: Christmas!  We throw a huge Christmas Eve party every year for both sides of the family plus friends where we do a Yankee Swap and everyone gets hammered and stays overnight, then we do stocking presents to each other and a big breakfast in the morning :-)  This year will be the last baby-free one! I love our tradition but I'm so glad next Christmas should be very different for us :-) I can't wait.