36 weeks!

Ugh, I didn't post last week. :( I'm a horrible mother, haha. I kid, I kid.

This week was quite a doozy. I went to the doc and my blood pressure was up a little. My doc talk to Tommy and I and unless I go into labor on my own before 38 weeks, I'll be induced during that week. So, basically 2 1/2 weeks or less until Rose's arrival!

Then, she did my internal check and I was 1 cm dialated, 60 percent effaced, and Rose was at a -2 station. Maybe she'll come before I'm induced!

We have a growth ultrasound on Tuesday and I'm so excited to see her again!! We're taking my grandma with us so she can see her, too. Can't wait!!

I had some more intense Braxton Hick's contractions yesterday afternoon/night. My back was tightening with them, too, and they "hurt" more than the usual BH contractions I've had. I finally laid down and they went away after awhile. This morning, I woke up and my pelvis area hurt. Her hiccups are lower today, too, so who knows what she's doing in there!

Not too much longer!!

34 weeks!

Well, I had my follow up appt with my doc and my blood pressure was better and my NST went great -- Rose was moving all over the place. However, I still got put on modified bedrest, which means I need to be laying down a lot during the day, but I can still do laundry, and some chores, so I'm not completely confined to a bed. Whatever I have to do to get little Rose here safely, I will.

We got a new car this weekend! It's a 2008 Kia Sportage. We tried putting our car seat in both of our cars last week and it just wasn't happening, so we traded them in to get the Sportage. Now, the carseat fits great and we have a lot more room, not to mention just one car and insurance payment a month now!

Other than that, not much else is new. Rose is feeling a little lower and is on my cervix more. Who knows if it's really doing anything, though. I can't wait until she gets here!

33 weeks!

4 more weeks until I'm full term!!

I had my shower yesterday, and it was awesome!! Katie, Erin, and Jesika did such a phenomenal job. I seriously couldn't have asked for a better shower. We got so many great gifts and today, we went out and returned a few things we had, and bought some things we needed including my breast pump, and now we're good to go!

I had my 32 week appointment last week with my doc. My blood pressure was way too high. I didn't have in protein in my urine (good news), but she decided to take blood work anyways to check on pre-e and I was on strict orders this weekend and Monday to rest as much as I can. I go back in on Tuesday to have my blood pressure taken again and also a NST and we'll go from there. Hopefully, my blood pressure will be a little lower and perhaps I can go back to work and not be put on permanent bedrest. She said from now on they'll be keeping a really close eye on my blood pressure and we'll be going from week to week to see how things are going. There's also a possibility that once I hit full term (38 weeks), an induction might be necessary if my blood pressure keeps creeping up. I'm trying to keep my head up.

Rose also dropped a little last week. I can breathe much easier and I feel a lot more comfortable, though my hips are hurting more. It's much more comfortable than a few weeks ago, though. :)

32 weeks!

Obviously, I am suffering from pregnancy brain syndrome because I totally spaced writing a 31 week update. BOO! Nothing much happened that week. Rose is just getting bigger and bigger and much easier to see from the outside. I also got a horrid sinus infection and was sick for over 3 days, even with antibiotics. Yuck!

This week was much better. I went back to work and was back into my old routine. For one day this week, my hips were a little more sore than normal and I couldn't walk near as fast as I normally do, but then yesterday I had little to no pain and was booking it down Walmart aisles, so she's not any lower than she was.

Yesterday, my mom and I hit up a huge consignment sale in Evansville. I got lots of clothes, a changing pad, a monitor system, bath tub, and Boppy for only 87 dollars! The clothes were only like 48 of those 87 dollars, too, and I got tons! We also went to Walmart and got a few more things I needed for the nursery, so it's almost done! Little odds and ends left and then I'll be ready for her grand entrance!!

The pics at the top are of my normal 32 week pregnant stomach laying down and then the second one is when I start to sit up. Rose's new nickname is alien. ;)

30 weeks!

Wooooooooooooooooooow. I've made it this far! Amazing.

This is totally late, as I forgot I didn't write an update. Last week was pretty uneventful. I've been having a pretty decent pregnancy!

I did have another appointment, though, this Tuesday due to some mucous I had and leaking. Everything turned out to be perfectly normal and I wasn't dialated at all. My blood pressure was lower and I lost 2 lbs, so that puts my total weight gain at -1. I'm sure I'll gain plenty in the upcoming weeks, though.

29 weeks!

Almost 3/4ths of the way done!! I went to my doc appt on Tuesday and everything is well except for having low iron and my blood pressure being erratic. I'm taking supplements for the iron, and for right now, my doc isn't too overly concerned about the blood pressure. I just have to try and lay down as much as possible (yeah, right).

Other than that, my sleeping pattern has taken a turn this week. Instead of sleeping, getting up to pee, then going back to sleep again, it's turning into sleep, getting up to pee and then I'm up for awhile, or sleep, get up to pee, finally fall back asleep only to wake up an hour later. I guess it's my body's way of getting me ready for motherhood, haha. But, since Rose isn't here yet, I would LOVE to still be getting a full night's sleep. Oh well.

Rose has been continually getting the hiccups more and more (she has them right now), and this week I was able to find where her head was. She didn't like my poking around by there, so she took her little hand and pushed up against mine several differnt times. I've felt her kick me before a lot, but I've never felt her use her hand. It was lovely!

The swelling was better this week, but it's only a matter of time before my ankles are no longer how I once knew them. But, it's for Rose and I'm ok with that. :)

28 weeks!

Where in the hell is she going to go from here??? Like, seriously. I'm HUGE and I *feel* HUGE, and yet I know that I still have at least 10 more weeks to go, if not 12-14 more if I continue to have a healthy pregnancy. Where is she going to go??? She can't really go up anymore -- she's all up in my ribs as it is and I'm like 2 feet in diameter from the side, so where will she fit??? I hit me today that I am like really, really pregnant looking. I mean, people, I waddle. I make grunting noises when I sit or stand and I have to have my husband give me a boost out of my seat where ever I'm sitting a lot. I'm flipping huge. But, as I keep telling myself (to soothe my anxiety), I'm supposed to be this big and she's healthy, so that's all that matters!

So, last week there were some changes. Rose now responds a lot to being rubbed. I woke up in the middle of the night last week and I could feel her little back, so I rubbed it. She decided didn't want to be rubbed and retreated into my uterus. I could still feel her, but it put a ton of pressure on my back and gave me a serious backache. Not fun. She did it again today, so I got on all fours to make her come forward and then the pressure in my back went away, thankfully.

Then, there's the issue of being able to sleep during the night. I don't know what it is because I'm not so uncomfortable yet that I'm going to die, but I sleep super lightly for some reason and I wake up like fifty times a night. I can deal with it, though.

Lastly, my ankles and feet have started to mildly swell. This sucks. It's way uncomfortable at the end of the day when you've been on your feet. I called my doc about it and she assured me it was normal, but it's REALLY uncomfortable.

She's also come to know her Daddy's voice really well. He gets right up to my belly and starts talking to her and right away she'll move around and go nuts. It's actually really amazing how intelligent fetus' are at this gestation and they aren't even born yet. She can be still for hours and then he'll start talking to her against my belly and she goes crazy for him. This is only the beginning, I'm sure, of a life long love affair with her dad. :)

But, other than that, all is well. Really, what I complain about is nothing, and at this point, if I make it to 37 weeks without any complications and having Rose be healthy, I will seriously be the happiest person ever. I just pray I get there!

27 weeks!

I made it to the third trimester!!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!! Only 91 more days until my due date!!!! I.am.psyched!!!

This week was a great week. No real aches or pains or anything related to being pregnant. I did have a horrid cold and ended up being sick a few days this week, but that doesn't have anything to do with Rose, haha. The cool thing that happened was on Thursday, I went to take a bath and I was laying in the tub watching Rose move around in my stomach for awhile. When I decided to get out, I grabbed a hold of the bar we have in our tub against the wall to sit up and kind of turned to the left a little while I was sitting up and about halfway up, I saw this big oblonged bulge sticking out of my stomach on the far right side! It was totally her body from the shoulders to the butt! It was so pronounced, too! I stared for about 30 seconds and I was in complete awe of A. seeing her actually physically there -- even though I have kicks and such, still, at times, it feels that being pregnant is all a dream, B. how big she is!, C. that I don't have a ton longer until I meet her! So, I got out of the tub and felt on my right side, and it was rock hard. Then I thought about it and I never feel her kick out of my right side. Rose started getting hiccups this week (that I noticed) and I know she's head down, so I'm thinking she's head down facing out to my left and her little back is against my right side with her butt by my ribs and her legs wrapped around to my left side. It explains a lot of her movements now for me. Anyways, it was just really cool.

Onto 28 weeks!!

26 weeks!

I posted last week that I hoped by this week the back pain would be gone -- IT IS! I still have random aches and pains from time to time, but haven't had any back pain like THAT since then. I'm assuming I tweaked my back up somehow and that was the source of the pain.

In other exciting news, for the first time last week, my mom felt Rose kick. Her reaction was really cool -- she was like, "My baby is kicking!" We also went this week to buy her a baby stroller. Currently, she has more stuff for this baby than I do, haha. Ah well.

We also played music for Rose this week and the rolly-polly feelings were craaaaaazy! She always went away from the music, so watching her body shift to the other side of my uterus was quite a sight.

Other than that, not much else is new. She seems to be doing quite well in there, and I hope she stays that way until at least 37 weeks!

25 weeks!

Oy, the uncomfortable part of pregnancy has set in!! This week began the extreme backaches. Some days are worse than others, but I sware, sometimes they hurt so bad, I just want to lay down and cry. But, only 15 more weeks!!! That's what I keep telling myself, haha.

Other than that, everything's been pretty normal. Maybe -- just maybe, this backache stuff will stop by next week! (YEAH RIGHT!!) I can hope, though!

5th OB appt... 24 weeks, 3 days!

I had another ultrasound today to finish getting some of the measurements, so my mom went along, too. She still looks as beautiful as last time, except bigger, but it was great to see her again. Unfortunately, the tech had to get this one shot of her heart and I sware, she dug the wand so far into me from the right side that I thought I was going to scream out in pain. She was trying to get her to move, but Rose wasn't having it. She finally got the pic after 20 minutes of excrutiating pain and a break during that for me to lay on my left side. We got a few pics of her that I'll have to get a pic of to post. I was bummed, too, because the tech didn't seem in a good mood and therefore, didn't explain what was going on at all as far as what we were seeing, so my mom didn't really get a good know-all of what part was what. But, she did recognize her profile. AND, Rose is still a Rose, so that's good news! She's weighing in at 1 lb 10 oz and she's measuring at 25 weeks today, so pretty much on par with my due date.

After the ultrasound, I had my 24 week check up and everything's looking good. I'm finally back up to my starting weight, so anything I put on from here is what I've gained!

24 weeks!

Good Lord, have Rose's kicks gotten harder or what?! I don't know what happened this week, but her kicks are getting really easy to feel at all times. Tommy has been able to feel her really easily all week and he is in love with putting his hand on my stomach and feeling her do her little gymnastics.

She's gotten into a noticable sleeping pattern, too. Every day, about the time I get done teaching around 3, she stops moving and kicking and usually I might feel her once or twice for a few seconds, but other than that, she's pretty much asleep until 7 or 8. Last night, she even slept until 9. Then, she woke right up almost at 9 on the dot and started kicking and flipping like crazy, haha. I was pushing my fingers in by where she was kicking and she let out a huge kick and the bottom of her foot hit my fingers, but I had enough pressure to where she actually was able to push off of my fingers and I felt her head get pushed out the other side of my uterus, haha. It actually gave me a little shock feeling. In the middle of the night and morning when I get up to go to the bathroom, I also feel her stir for a minute when I sit up. She's most active in the late morning and then around lunch. We'll see how that goes once she's born. ;)

I had a dream about her the other night, too. I had a dream that she was born on a Monday, but my milk didn't come in until a Thursday and she was really good at breastfeeding. I also looooooooooooved being able to breastfeed her and in my sleep for a minute, I actually was able to feel that "bond" of mother and daughter. It was such a beautiful feeling. I also kept telling myself to get a good look at her to see if what she looks like in my dream (she looked the same as a dream I had awhile ago) is what she looks like when I give birth to her. In my dream, she had dark brown hair, but not a ton, but not a little, either. She was so adorable. I remember wanting to show her off to everyone at the pool (?). Don't know what pool or what, but oh well, haha.

We have an ultrasound on Tuesday as well as my 24 week appointment. Hopefully, I'll have some pics to update with on Tuesday. My mom is going to the ultrasound, too, so I'm really excited!!

23 weeks!

I haven't updated in a few weeks with the holidays and our Vegas trip, but all is well! Actually, since 20 weeks, I think it's be the best time of my entire pregnancy thus far. I feel great, hormones aren't driving me bonko, and I haven't really had any headaches. The stomach is growing, though, and I'm starting to get some mild swelling. Her kicks are getting harder and last night, when we went to the movies, I actually felt her kick from my stomach and hit me in the arm. My arm was tucked against me, but still, it was a much harder push from her kick than normal AND it actually hit my arm (not like the bed while I'm laying down or my hand while I rest it on my stomach). I felt her kick later on, too, and her kick came out a pretty decent ways. Also, when we rest our hands on my stomach where she's moving, you can feel like waves of her body coming and going from underneath our hands. It's just really cool.

This last week, we picked out our bedding, painted the nursery, and I made letters for Rose's name. Pics are at the top. In one more week, she's viable outside of me if the worst happens (delivering early), so while I hope to God it never comes to that, it's a weird feeling to think that I've gotten this far and that they would try to save her and keep her alive if something bad happened. It's also less than 4 months until she's supposed to be here. That is mind blowing to me because four months is nothing. We are getting so excited!! I just can't wait to see her and be her mom!