38 and 39 weeks

"Are you at the point where people are picking up the phone saying “Is the baby coming?!” when you call?

 

It’s right around this time that there’s a slooow shift from you being perceived as a glowing woman that is creating life, into a fat husk that’s hoarding that adorable baby they all want to see.

 

Some people can actually start getting a little testy as if you’re not going into labour on purpose.

 

Very few women go into labour on their due date (fewer than 5%) so try not to do what I did and count down the days to your due date figuring that’s when the baby would get here because it rarely happens.

 

How do you know if you’re in labour though?

 

Passing your mucus plug. Ah yes, the mucus plug. Once again medical professions have outdone themselves with the most disgusting terminology they could come up with.

 

Essentially you’ve lost the seal that kept your cervix closed for the pass nine months. It may come out as a lump or as increased discharge over a few days. The mucus may be tinted with red or brown, which is referred to as “bloody show”. Yep, bloody show.

 

I think we should refer to it as a baby cork and womb sealant.

 

No need to worry because it just means that the lid is off – labour could start in a couple of hours or even a couple of weeks. Just mention it to your medical practitioner when you see them next. Unless there’s blood, like real bright red bleeding, which could indicate issues with your placenta so shuffle off to hospital stat if you spot that.

 

Contractions are a good hint but Braxton Hicks contractions are always lurking to make you feel like a dummy for hitting the “show time” button. Try walking around if you have them though. Braxton Hicks contractions usually fade if you’re up and moving around versus sitting. Contractions also tend to get more intense with walking so that’s a good clue. If they start coming at regular intervals and increase in frequency, you’re probably ready to rock and roll. What you’re waiting for is 1-5-1, which is having contractions that are 1 minute long, every 5 minutes, for 1 hour. If you’re high risk your practitioner will probably want you in sooner.

 

Water breaking. You know how in movies a woman is always standing at a party while she delivers her “Oh my God, my water just broke” line accompanied by a gush of water? Well, this doesn’t happen to many women. In fact, most women are well into labour before their water breaks.

 

It is more likely to be a leak rather than a gush although those are sometimes hard to distinguish from sneaky urine and vaginal discharge, which are two other delightful side effects when you’re this pregnant. Easiest way to tell if you’re leaking amniotic fluid is to lie down. The fluid will pool in your vagina and come out when you stand up – pee and discharge won’t do that.

 

If you find you are leaking, pack yourself up and assume that you’ll be giving birth shortly. Once your water breaks you’ll either go into labour in the next 24 hours or your practitioner will start it for you.

 

Oh, if the fluid is green or brown call your doctor or midwife right away because that’s a sign that your baby may have pooped in utero and you don’t want the little monkey ingesting that.

 

Until that time though, I suggest you change your answering machine to “Hello, we can’t take your call right now, no, I’m not in labour, just not able to come to the phone. Leave a message and we’ll call you back later when I’m still not in labour.” Beep.

Or send them to haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com" - Pregnant Chicken

Size/Info: 20 in and 7.3 lbs is the current guess! Baby Hammitt is the size of a small watermelon, short hair cat, or box of Krispy Kreme donuts.  Her lungs are fully mature now and while she isn't growing in overall size so much she is still putting on weight and growing hair. Her brain size has increased by 30% over the last 4 weeks.  

What is new this week? (Last 2 weeks): I have still been seeing my midwife once a week and twice weekly NSTs and once weekly BPPs. Everything has been on track. My midwife has checked me a few times and at first she said that I was fingertip dilated but then said I was completely closed. Damn. Janet and Dr. B have been talking and decided they wanted to induce me at 39 weeks but as my cervix hasn't been opening - my midwife thinks we should wait. She consulted the notes from Maternal Fetal Medicine and they said I could go until 40 weeks. Then I got a phone call from my midwife and she said that her and Dr. B want to induce me on Monday at 39 weeks 4 days. Their reasoning is that it is a compromise between what Dr. B wants and what MFM wants and both of them are on call. I am really torn as I want no medical interventions BUT Dr. B's concern is still birth with my advanced maternal age. I am not sure how one decides when still birth is thrown out there and the ultimate goal is a healthy baby but I do worry that medical interventions will lead to a c-section. For now the plan is to get checked on Monday at 39 weeks 4 days and make a decision then.

Baby come out hike

We finished putting together the baby plan so now we are all set to have a baby and everything will go as planned, right?!?

Symptoms: The baby has dropped and I can BREATHE!! I have felt so much better over the last 2 weeks. I worked up through Jan 11. and since I have stopped working the swelling has all but gone away in my feet. Yay!! My acid reflux is still horrendous and my joints are killing me - my knees hurt with all this extra weight and squatting down hurts them so bad! Hands are still swelling and I feel like a walrus on dry land when rolling over in bed.

Food Aversions:  Just feed me and tell me I'm pretty.

Food Cravings: Cold beverages! If I had smaller ice I might even chew on it!

Fitness: Can I remove this already?

Bump: I think because she has dropped I look smaller at 39 weeks! My face is definitely not as swollen.

Medications: The Heparin is the WORST!!! I am SO SORE.

7:30am: 750 units of Heparin

9am: 1 Prenatal and 2 DHA

7:30pm: 750 units of Heparin

Baby Preparations: Car seat is installed. Baby changing pad made. Diaper pail liner made. I have been sewing like crazy! Yay for nesting. I replaced the batteries for the baby monitor. Jason installed the cloth diaper sprayer - what a pain in the as with our weird toilet - on a side note he fixed the flushing mechanism on the toilet and I am so happy (it's the little things!). He also built a shelf for me downstairs to help better organize our crowded space. He's so handy. We got a go-pro from a friend so we are ready to video the birth!! Now we just need baby to come out!

35, 36 and 37 weeks

Again I was a SLACKER in posting!! Oops!


"Can I get a woot woot for full term? Aw, hell yeah! You’re good to go anytime now, sugar bum.

Your baby is inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid and taking its digestive tract for a test run so it can produce the stickiest, grossest, black/green poop you’ll ever witness when he or she is born. It’s called meconium and it should be used to maintain the structural integrity of suspension bridges because it’s so gummy and hard to get off things, but it’s actually composed of the stuff your baby ingested during its stay in the womb.

Your baby has also most likely settled in the head down position but if your kid is stubborn and still hasn’t turned, you’ll probably be offered an external cephalic version (ECV), which is fancy way of saying they are going to turn your baby by manipulating your belly. If that doesn’t work, they may recommend a c-section but, depending on where your baby is, a vaginal delivery may still be possible. In the meantime, here are some tips to get that little monkey to turn – the “Underwater Piñata” is still my favourite.

Oh, and if you’re going to have a hospital birth you may want to get packed for show time if you haven’t already. Sure you really don’t need much but it’s so nice to feel comfortable during a time when you probably aren’t always going to feel so great. Toothbrush, flip-flops and gum are my top tips, but you can find the whole list here." -Pregnant Chicken

Size/Info: It is really all a guess at this point but my app says 19.1 inches and 6.3lbs. The baby is gaining about 1/2 an oz each day. She continues to work her facial muscles and may even be smiling. Her fingernails now extent beyond the tip of her fingers (omg, I have to file or cut them!!). Technically, we are at "early term" Which is full term but just early. Even though her lungs are likely mature, she is not finished growing. She is practicing for her big day by practicing breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid. Her head (which is still growing) will be the same size as her chest when she is born... weird.

What's new this week? Or rather over the last 3 weeks...: I have continued to have 2x weekly NSTs and once weekly BPPs. Despite all that monitoring, I have gone to Labor and Delivery at least once - maybe twice because of movement changes. I just can't shake the anxiety I feel. She has always passed but I still freak out. We have had 2 growth scans at 35 weeks and 37 weeks. Dr. B did the 35 week one and Dr. Pearson did the 37 week one. She hardly grew between those two scans and she dropped from the 50th % to the 25th %. None of the docs or midwife seemed concerned - but of course I am!! Her movements have changed again and that freaks me out. I just want her to be here already so I know she is safe... Although once she is here, I am sure I will just worry about something else. I don't want to be that over anxious mother but I am not sure at this point how to calm my fears. I feel like we are so close and I am SO afraid that something will go wrong.

We completed our Hypnobabies class and one of the last tracks I listened to is the fear clearing track. I need to listen to it again (and again) until the baby is here! Now that class is over, we have our maintenance program where we listen to specific tracks each day. It has been so much easier for me to have a set schedule and adhere to that. My doula is out of town until I am 38 weeks at which point she goes on call for me. So even though I want baby here now, I want to wait for my doula to be back so she can guide us through this amazing process. I am really excited for my birthing time. One thing we worked on at the end of my classes was my birthing preferences aka birth plan. Plan sounds to definite so preferences leaves some room for changes as they arise. Here is what we have so far:

 The next thing I need to put together is our Baby Preferences. We already know what we want, I just have to create the plan like this one...

Christmas was great. we went o Montrose on Christmas Eve and spent the night with Kim, Matt and the boys. Children make Christmas so much fun! Jason had to work at noon so we drove home at 10am and I spent the day at home and made Thai food for dinner. New Years Eve consisted of Domino's with Eric and Shannon. I did manage to stay up until Midnight, but just barely. Whew.

Jason and I went to Sam's club and shopped for ingredients to make Crock-pot freezer meals. I have this list with 30 freezer meals (10 recipes) with the whole shopping list that I found on-line. We shopped on a Saturday and I made 27 of the 30 meals on Sunday. I was SO EXHAUSTED after making them. But I feel really good about having food ready for when baby is here. Jason made us breakfast sandwiches and burritos so we also have those ready to go! It is hard not eating that food now...

Symptoms: I have been so uncomfortable. The swelling is out-of-hand. My right ankle looks like there are no bones in there and my fingers are sausages. My face is also pretty full and round. BIG NEWS!!! I had a sleep study done and I have moderate to severe sleep apnea! 25 times an hour I was not breathing. So now I have a c-pap machine and I can sleep. Thank you baby Jesus! Now I only wake up to pee about 3-4 times a night and I no longer snore. Jason is really happy about that. It didn't take me long to adjust to the mask. I really needed the sleep! My only issue is that I get out of breath getting out of bed and rolling over AND one nostril is always plugged so I have to wait until I can catch my breath after peeing before I can put the mask on. I've only fallen back asleep once without it and Jason woke me up because I went right back to snoring. Ha! I have a weekly appointment with the respiratory therapist to make sure the settings don't need to be changed as they haven't dealt with pregnancy induce sleep apnea and the doc wanted me monitored. So far everything has been good!

This is me getting the sleep study done... I was hooked up to so many wires and a man in another room watched me sleep... weird.

This is my c-pap mask. Jason says I look like an elephant! I LOVE elephants, so great!

Food Aversions:  Ragu suace

Food Aversions:  None really.

Food Cravings: Same -chocolate milk, broccoli, fizzy water and COLD water. But also, cold ginger beer. Yum!

Fitness: HA!

Bump: Everyone at work now says - looks like you are about to pop! Yes, I am huge!

Yep. Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.

Medications: No more prednisone!!!

7:30am: 40mg Lovonox injection in the belly weeks 35-36. At 37 weeks I started Heparin and man I am bruising like CRAZY!!

9am: 1 Prenatal and 2 DHA

7:30pm: 40mg Lovonox injection in the belly weeks 35-36. At 37 weeks I started Heparin and man I am bruising like CRAZY!!

I changed to Heparin so that they can give me something to reverse the effects if need be during my birthing time. I really do not like the heparin...

Baby Preparations: My sister Sylvia got us the Owlet Monitor!!! I am so stinking excited!!!! Hopefully this calms my anxiety once she is here. I have started colleting things to take to the hospital - like snacks, baby clothes, toiletries, a personal hand held fan that my sister in law said I might need..., the breast-friend (it is like a boppy but maybe more supportive), clothing for me and a list of things to gather once my birthing time begins. I still need to get Jason some clothes together. I really need to go through the clothes that I have picked out to take to the hospital for the baby - I am pretty sure I have about 20 outfits... I do love to overpack! And I have no idea how big she's going to be or what colors will look the best - I am ridiculous, I know! The other thing we need to do is install the car seat and go get it checked out wherever you do that. Also I am feeling like I need to take a breastfeeding class as I am starting to feel like I might be a little under prepared for what is to come...