Bump Day ~ 38 Weeks

 (Originally written 11.23.14)

How far along? 38 weeks and surprise!  We have an outside baby!!  Baby girl decided to join us at 37 weeks, 5 days. But for posterity sake I'm going to do one last survey for my last 5 pregnant days.

Weight gain/loss:  Based on my last Dr's appt, the total damage done was 34 pounds.

Maternity Clothes? Ironically the day I gave birth, I was sitting in the waiting room at my OB office and proudly announced to my husband that I wasn't wearing anything maternity.  An impressive feat at nearly 38 weeks.

Sleep: Not too shabby, as long as I'm on my right side baby girl doesn't protest too much.  Now getting out of bed, or rolling over is a different story.  I feel like a turtle stuck on their back.

Stretch marks:  Nada.

Best moment this week: Thursday night all my work friends threw a baby shower for me!  It was my only one this go around and so much fun to celebrate baby girl!

Movement: She's still a mover and a shaker!

Food cravings: Cereal.  I ate a late night bowl several nights this week, it was awesome.

Gender: Team pink!

Labor Signs: Maybe a few cramps here and there, but nothing major.

What I Miss: Being able to tie my shoes.  Or even put shoes on without it being a huge battle.

What I'm looking forward to:  Thanksgiving!  My favorite holiday of the year!

Weekly Wisdom: When you've had high blood pressure and then suddenly your feet swell to twice their natural size, don't be surprised when you immediately get shipped to Labor and Delivery.

Milestones: Made it through my last full week of work!

Big Brother: Excited as ever, I pulled out his Big Brother book and we read it every night. 

Welcome to the World Brooke Savannah

So I'm a little late on our announcement.

2 weeks to be exact.

Without further adieu, I announce to you Brooke Savannah.

On November 21 at 8:19 PM we welcomed our sweet baby girl into the world!

She weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs 0.4 ounces and was 18 1/4 inches long.

She's just perfect and we're settling in as a family of FOUR!

Today was actually her due date, hard to think I could still be pregnant!  I'm much happier with an outside baby for my 40 week picture than and inside baby!

Birth story is coming, I finally finished it only to realize that the last half I spent two days writing didn't save.  Yay.  The joys of computers.

Bump Day ~ 37 Weeks

How far along? 37 weeks!  Baby is the size of a winter melon.  Not to be confused with a watermelon, because that's how I read it at first.

Weight gain/loss:  Whatever.  I keep telling myself that I still weigh less now then I did when I started my pregnancy with Jamie and am no where near what I weighed when I delivered him.  So there's that.

Maternity Clothes? Yes.  Our sudden cold snap is proving to be interesting in the coat dept.  I refuse to buy anything at this point though so I'm making do.  I did treat myself to some new {non maternity} PJ's to wear in the hospital in a vein attempt to feel pretty and  I picked up two {non maternity} tops that will work now, but will be good to have post baby.

Sleep: I don't want to jinx it, but sleep is good.  I think I'm just so exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow my body just gives in to sweet, sweet uninterrupted slumber.

Stretch marks:  Still nothing new, dare a say I may make it out of this without any new stripes.

Best moment this week: We have an official end date in sight!!  Unfortunately it comes at the price of two weeks in a row with borderline high blood pressure.  My OB said I'm still in the "grey" area and haven't officially crossed the threshold to being labeled with pregnancy induced hypertension, but I'm close enough she doesn't want me going past my due date.  So as long as my BP doesn't get any worse and baby girl doesn't make any surprise appearances on her own, we are set for a Dec 3rd induction, just a few days shy of my Dec 7 due date.  It's weird, I've only lost 4 days, but all of a sudden it seems so much closer!  I think because it's a guarantee where as before I had pretty much come to terms I was going to be late again.  Only 16 days to go!!

Movement: Definitely slowing down as she runs out of room, but she still manages to get plenty of good dance moves in there,

Food cravings: Nothing in particular, I've been digging the clementines though, which is a nice change of pace from the usual sugar high.

Gender: Sugar and spice!

Labor Signs: I've had a few braxton hicks contractions and she's definitely sitting low these days based on the way I waddle.

What I Miss: Being able to sit on the floor and play with Jamie.  Or heck, just sit on the floor period.

What I'm looking forward to:  Getting through this week, my last FULL work week!!  Next week is short because of Thanksgiving and the following week is short because it's baby time!!

Weekly Wisdom: When your doctor tells you not to worry, don't start googling or you will convince yourself you are dying.

Milestones: We are officially considered {early} full term!  We also finished washing and setting up all the baby stuff.  It's weird having a swing in the house again.  We bought the last few things we needed and the nursery is pretty much done.  If she showed up today we'd be ready!  Oh!  And her Christmas stocking is on the way!

Big Brother:  He seriously may be more excited for his sister to arrive than anyone else.  He talks about her all the time and wants to be a part of everything we've been doing to get ready.  I can't wait to watch him become a big brother, it gets me all pregnancy sappy just thinking about it.

Bump Day ~ 36 Weeks

How far along? 36 weeks!  Baby is the size of a honeydew melon.

Weight gain/loss: Up.  Again.  I've reached the point where it is what it is and as long as I'm not treating everyday like an all you can eat buffet, I've come to terms with it.

Maternity Clothes? With Jamie I remember being so over maternity clothes by this poing and counting down until I could wear "real" pants again.  This time?  Elastic pants for life!

Sleep: I can still sometimes go all night without a bathroom break.  I'm not sure if I should be grateful for this or be concerned I'm not drinking enough water.  Either way sleep is good.  No real complaints here!

Stretch marks:  Nothing new.

Best moment this week: I woke up on Monday and felt human again.  The stomach bug is officially gone and the exhaustion went with it!  Praise the lord!!

Movement: Yes, and sometimes, not gonna lie, it's kind of uncomfortable, baby girl is definitely running out of room in there!

Food cravings: Appetite returned in full force this week!  As did the sweet tooth.

Gender: Sweet baby girl!

Labor Signs: Nope.  Had an internal exam at my OB appt Friday, not surprisingly I was not dilated but we did confirm baby is head down!  I also suspect she dropped some this week because my symptoms have flip flopped, more hip/lower back pain but I feel like I can breath better and I'm having less heartburn.  So let's hope all these things are a sign she's starting to get ready for her BIG debut!

What I Miss: Being able to get out of bed or off the couch without giving myself a pep talk first.

What I'm looking forward to:  The holiday season!  Usually I'm all "Respect the Turkey!" and while I'm not putting up the tree just yet, I'm starting to get the itch for all things Christmas.  This year is going to be extra magical and I'm anxious to get it started!

Weekly Wisdom: Washing a dark pink onesie with the rest of the baby laundry will in fact turn everything a nice shade of pale pink.  Sigh.

Milestones: Had my pre-admissions meeting at the hospital this week!  Also washed all the nursery linens and put the crib in order.  Hung the monogram.  Washed all the newborn clothes.  Installed the infant seat bases in the cars and washed the seat cover.  Nesting and baby prep is in full force!!

Big Brother:  Poor buddy has been battling a cold all week.  I guess better now than later when we have to worry about preschool germs and a newborn!

Bump Day ~ 35 weeks

How far along? 35 weeks! Baby is the size of a coconut.

Weight gain/loss: Well according to my scale, thanks to the stomach virus of 2014, I lost 3 pounds, according to my Dr's scale I gained almost 4.  I'm sorry but I call BS on that.  All I did for 5 days was go to the bathroom and eat applesauce.  It will be interesting to see what their stupid scale tells me this week.

Maternity Clothes? Yes.  I don't see this changing anytime soon. Though I still get by with a handful of non maternity tops that I saved from my fat girl days.

Sleep: After this week, if I could sleep 22 hours of the day I would.  Unfortunately work got in the way, but you can bet as soon as I stumbled in the door I hit the bed and didn't leave until my alarm went off.  I am hoping I get a little energy back, I can't handle 5 more weeks of this exhaustion.

Stretch marks:  Nothing new.

Best moment this week: I'm not going to sugar coat it, there was nothing great about this week.  I'm just glad I survived.  A stomach virus is never fun, but being 8 month pregnant AND having a stomach bug?  Downright torture.

Movement: This poor kid gets hiccups all.the.time.  At least twice a day, sometimes more.  She also likes to play punch the bladder, fun times.

Food cravings: Nothing.  I have had zero interest in food and zero appetite.  Even now that the stomach bug has moved on through, most food just sounds unappetizing.  Or it gives me heartburn so I don't want to eat it anyway.

Gender: Team pink!

Labor Signs: Nope.  Not a one.

What I Miss: Feeling like a normal human being.

What I'm looking forward to:  Getting my appetite back, we have "Fakesgiving" this weekend and I want to enjoy my turkey dinner and pie!

Weekly Wisdom: When your husband claims he feels worse than you, resist the urge to punch him in the face, you might need him later to make a late night CVS run.

Milestones: 35/35!  35 weeks down, 35 days to go!

Big Brother:  Is starting to get impatient on when exactly this baby is actually going to be here.  Me too buddy, me too.

Bump Day ~ 34 Weeks

How far along? 34 weeks, baby is the size of a butternut squash!

Weight gain/loss: No clue.  Let's keep it that way.

Maternity Clothes? Had to bust out the ole tank/maxi skirt combo again today.  You know, because it's normal to be 85 degrees at the end of October.  Over it.

Sleep: Lately I've been tossing and turning a lot.  The overnight potty breaks are also becoming more and more.

Stretch marks:  I actually looked the other day, as much as I can that is, and honestly didn't see anything.

Best moment this week: I felt a little less exhausted this week and little more human.  I'll take whatever energy bursts I can!

Movement: Still tons.  And as much as I do like it, I'd be lying if I didn't say some of the big movements are getting a little uncomfortable.  I felt hiccups pretty low yesterday though, so hopefully she's head down now for the long haul!

Food cravings: Macaroni and cheese.  And peas.  Not like all mixed together, but at the same time.  I had it twice in the past week.

Gender: Team pink!

Labor Signs: Had a few cramps here and there, maybe I was over doing it at work.....maybe it's those Braxton Hicks contractions people talk about?

What I Miss: Fall!  Please come back!!  I did not sign up for another third trimester in the sweltering heat!!

What I'm looking forward to: Pulling all the baby gear out of the basement.  Starting to get the nesting itch but feel like it's a bit soon to set up already.  Two more weeks and it's go time!

Weekly Wisdom:  Don't down an entire bottle of water right before bed and then be surprised when you have to get up like 4 times to pee.

Milestones: Started hanging new things in the nursery, can't wait for the monogram to arrive for above the crib!

Big Brother:  So my belly button pops out when I laugh really hard and Jamie got to witness this strange phenomenon first hand.  One night the two of us laid in his bed and laughed for a good 10 minutes watching my belly act like a human turkey timer.

Bump Day ~ 33 Weeks

How far along? 33 weeks, baby is the size of a durian fruit??  Cause that's helpful.  Let's just go with baby is getting huge, because lately, that's how I feel.

Weight gain/loss: Up 1.6 lbs since my last appt 2 week ago.  I guess that's not horrible.

Maternity Clothes? I tried to make a button down shirt work today, I only got two buttons done and the 2nd was a major stretch over the ever expanding boulders on my chest.  I rocked it anyways, with a tank underneath of course.

Sleep: Ok.  Had a bit of insomnia and was up tossing and turning at 4am, of course on one of the days I could have actually slept it.  Figures.

Stretch marks:  No news is good news.

Best moment this week: Hearing my doctor tell me that me and baby are both just perfect.  Like I didn't already know.  ;)  Worst moment: Getting my flu shot.  Last appt I had to get the Tdap vaccine.  The time before that my Rogham shot and all my glucose bloodwork.  I look forward to not being treated like a pin cushion every time I walk through those doors.

Movement: Yes, yes and yes!  I remember thinking Jamie was an active baby, well he's got nothing on his sister.  Girlfriend is like a ninja warrior in there all day, everyday.  She even woke me up once this week with her acrobatics.

Food cravings: Chocolate milk shake.  And it was delicious.

Gender: Baby girl!

Labor Signs: Nope, but she sits so low sometimes I legit feel like I need to cross my legs when I sneeze or cough for fear she may just drop right out.

What I Miss: That cushy desk job I had when I was pregnant with Jamie where I sat around and surfed the internet all day.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but man the days are long and it's far more physically demanding than I ever realized before being 100 months pregnant.  Whew.  This week it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I can just feel myself moving slower and by lunch I am ready for a nap.

What I'm looking forward to: Only working 3 days this week!  My poor pregnant body is craving the extra day of rest!

Weekly Wisdom:  Anytime you're taking family pictures and a crazy 4 year old boy is involved, don't expect it to happen without any bribing, or without sprouting any new grey hairs.

Milestones: Officially under 50 days!!  Non pregnancy related?  The Kansas City Royals have made it into the World Series for the first time in 29 years!

Big Brother:  Tonight he hugged my belly and told me how much he loves his baby sister.  I sure hope that sticks around once she arrives.