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...