Pregnancy in Pictures is Moving!

To continue to read about my pregnancy

(and to read about my life as a mama

once Bean is born),

be sure to follow me over to my new blog:

The Coffee-Stained Mama.

Waddle, Waddle, Waddle!

The closer I get to my due date, the more I find myself waddling when I walk. It's amusing to my husband, of course, who takes every opportunity he can to remind me of my new gait by looking at me and saying, "Waddle, waddle, waddle!" I don't mind--I know I'm waddling. And since I know why, it doesn't bother me.

And although I sway side to side when I walk, and my hips feel like they're going to come out of their sockets if I sit on the floor with them crossed, Bean hasn't "dropped," and I can only imagine how I'll look walking once it does!

In talking to my mom about how my pregnancy is going, she told me that when he does drop, I'll definitely know. Not only will it be easier for me to breathe, my heartburn will let up, and I'll need to run to the restroom more, but I'll feel like I'm carrying him between my knees.

Could I really waddle more than I am already? If so, Hubby will probably want to videotape it. Too bad there's no costume parties coming up--I could go as a mama duck.







--


Photo source

Pregnancy in Pictures is Moving!

I've taken a long look at my life and everything I have going on, and I'm trying to simplify as much as I can before Bean arrives.

One area I know I can simplify is my blogging life. I really love having a blog devoted to my pregnancy, but this blog, along with my personal blog and my writing blog is just a little too much right now. I also think that moving now will make an easier transition for me to go from writing about being pregnant to writing about being a mom. So I'm making the transition now, while I have the luxury of time to do it.

Beginning on Monday, July 20th, this blog will be joined with Love, Ink, & Scraps over at the new site: The Coffee-Stained Mama.

I look forward to seeing you there!

--

Photo source

Week 35 Prenatal Appointment

Yesterday I went to the doctor's office for a checkup. It was probably the quickest appointment I've had since I got pregnant!

Dr. T-- measured my uterus and listened to Bean's heartbeat (his heart rate was at 148), then took a little swab to check for bacteria. A standard test, I'm told. I have another appointment in two weeks, and after that I'm sure I'll be going every week.

I expected him to say I needed to come every week after this week's appointment, but I guess not. Really, it's fine with me. Once the appointments are every week, I don't know that Hubby will be able to make it to every appointment, so if they delay it until next time, I'll be happy. (I've been really blessed to have Hubby with me at every prenatal appointment so far. The office does appointments until 7 p.m., which helps.)

I can't believe we're almost done!

--

Photo source

Reflection on Week Thirty-Four, and Week Thirty-Five

I can hardly believe there are only five short weeks left until my due date. It seems that just a couple of weeks ago Hubby and I were telling our family and close friends about my pregnancy, and that we were looking ahead to nine long months of preparations. Now we're getting to the end, still have a lot of preparations, and on the verge of the next step in our lives.

Last week was a good one, for the most part. Of course, I have the standard fatigue, but I've been blessed to be able to sleep for a few hours after Hubby's on his way to work, which helps a lot. I know I probably won't be able to do that once Bean is here!

I've been having lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions lately, too. In fact, a few days ago, they were painful, which is a new thing. I knew it wasn't real labor because the contractions were spaced randomly, but it was still a reminder that, even though Bean's due date isn't for another five weeks, he could come any time now. (That's why I'm finishing up the nursery this week!)

I'm excited about this week, actually. Not only do I have a prenatal appointment tomorrow at which I'll get the results from my ultrasound a few weeks ago, but I don't have too much on my plate this week, which will give me time to get stuff done. I know that if I had a lot to do this week, I'd feel overwhelmed and baby things would get pushed around (as usual) and delayed. Instead, I get to concentrate on baby stuff this week! Hooray!

Now that we're so close to the end, there's not much going on in Bean's development. Instead, he's just getting ready to be an "outside baby." Here's what baby-gaga has to say about this week:

Fetal development in pregnancy week 35: Congratulations! You're now carrying nearly 6 lbs of baby not counting the amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord, or the placenta itself. We're impressed because that's a LOT of work non-stop. Are you feeling proud of yourself yet? Well, get to it--you've done an amazing job! At this point, your little grower is almost busting out of the womb size-wise, which make their restricted attempts to move much challenging. Of course, your stubborn little sucker is still trying to move around as if they weren't in a cramped space. And the accumulating baby fat deposits are starting to level off so your little butter ball will be padded and warm when they head out of their super snug little home.

And how's mom doing? We're sure you've noted that the contractions are picking up and despite the obvious appeal of getting the pregnancy over with at this point, try not to jump the gun too soon by declaring actual labor. Of course, if it's getting to the point where you're having contractions continuously--you're in labor and yes, it's time for the "grab your bags we're gonna have a baby" rush. For the rest of you not yet in labor, your watermelon-betwixt-my-legs waddle is as charming as ever, not to mention the glorious ongoing back pain and fatigue. Hang in there! Once you've got your miracle baby on the outside, this will all be a dim memory. So, catch the cat naps whenever possible and keep yourself hydrated with water and try to imagine how all of this will (hopefully) be much funnier in hindsight.

Your doctor or midwife should soon start monitoring cervical effacement (thinning of the cervix) and dilation in order to predict labor. If your cervix is already dilated labor is probably not far away--although there are some moms who walk around with a dilated cervix for a couple of days prior to labor. And if you haven't heard about the joys of discharging the mucus plug (which protects the uterus from infection) along with some spotting, commonly called "bloody show"--both are signs that labor is around the corner. Should you discharge anything unusual in consistency and/or coloration, don't hesitate to call your health care provider, it's probably nothing, but you certainly don't need the extra stress right now.

Let's talk about pain. Reports on the intensity of pain experienced during labor and childbirth are widely varied from woman to woman. The pain experienced depends on several things including your own natural pain threshold, medication, birthing position, fetal position, previous births, your general health and the actual birthing environment. Of course, there are natural births, cesarean deliveries, spinals, IVs and other pain medications, all of which also play into how you experience pain during childbirth.

Ideally, you should attempt to be as relaxed as possible and willing to accept the pain as part of the birthing process. In reality, your experience of the birthing process is unique to your body and how you choose to respond to it. Pain is a two part process: the first part is the physical experience of the pain and the second is your emotional reaction to your experience--and that is the part you have the most control over. Choosing to accept and endure the pain of child-birth (with or without medication) can be an empowering experience for any woman, as well as making the birthing process notably easier for those assisting you.

There's no getting around it now: it's time to think about and prepare for labor/delivery. So much of the past eight months has been spent thinking about my actual pregnancy experience and what it'll be like to bring Bean home that my mind always just sort of glossed over the fact that I had to give birth to get to the "bringing Bean home" part. But now it's all I can think about.

Thankfully, the hospital where I'll be delivering is a very good one for labor/delivery, so I don't think I'll have too much trouble voicing my opinions and plans about the experience. Of course I know my actual birth experience could be wildly different from my ideal, but I also know that the staff will listen to what I want and do what they can to make me comfortable.

Now if I could just get my birth bag packed and in the car....

--
Photo source

When is it time for maternity leave?

As you know, I've been feeling increasingly tired lately. I know part of it is the heat, but I also know part of it is that I'm getting to the end of my pregnancy and my body is telling me to slow down.

I'm fortunate enough to work from home as a freelance writer, so I've been able to (pretty much) make my own work hours to go around my schedule, and to allow me to rest when I need to. But even that feels like it's not been enough lately. Even as I write this, I feel like I could use a nice, long nap, and I haven't been up very long today!

So I've been contacting some of my clients to let them know I'm only sort of available right now. They know I'm pregnant and that my due date is fast approaching, but I guess I'm letting them know I'm pretty much on maternity leave now.

I think it'll be good. Stepping away from writing for these last several weeks will help me make sure everything is ready for Bean when he gets here, and will let me relax instead of pushing through to the end. I know lots of women that work up until their due dates, or even until their waters break, but that's not the best decision for me. I have to listen to my body, and this is what it's telling me.

That said, I think it's time for a quick nap before Hubby comes home!

Week Thirty-Four

Well, ladies (and gentlemen), there are a mere six weeks left until my due date. I can hardly believe it! I'm really getting to the end now.

I know that, being my first pregnancy, it's very likely that Bean will arrive "late," or even that my due date was calculated incorrectly, depending on when I ovulated. So I'm not putting too much into that magical date of August 17th (although being my niece's birthday, I know Sisi is!).

Regardless of when Bean will actually decide to make his appearance, it can't be denied that time is short, and at this stage, I'm starting to focus less on my actual pregnancy and more on the L/D part of things. In fact, so are my pregnancy books and websites. Here's the info that About.com's pregnancy site gives about this week:

Mother:

Your body is really getting ready and you may notice that you have more and more contractions that seem less and less like practice! This is a great sign that your body is getting ready!

Labor is broken down into three stages:

• First stage - contractions that open the cervix.
• Second stage - pushing the baby out.
• Third stage - birthing the placenta.

Have you thought about how long you'll work before baby? Some women leave work before their due date or at their due date. Other women work until labor begins....

Baby:

Baby is continuing to get bigger! Four pounds seven ounces (2 kilograms) and a length of 42.5 cms or 16.8 inches. The hormones from the placenta are starting to activate the milk in your breasts. Did you know that the baby urinates almost a pint a day! What out diapers here you come!

Everything is pointing towards the end, it seems.

Along with that, I'm cutting back on my workload in preparation for Bean's arrival. I'll still be writing (and certainly blogging), but I let my clients know that he could arrive any time now, really, and I don't know how available I'll be between now and the end of September. So I guess you could say I'm on maternity leave.

Although with everything that needs to get done in preparation for Bean, I don't think I'll be getting much more rest than normal, but I know I'll feel a lot better knowing that I can concentrate on my pregnancy task list (which I'll be posting here weekly to help keep me accountable for the tasks on it!).

In other news, Bean is on Twitter! I decided it would be a good way to keep up with how things are going during L/D since I won't have access to a computer. I can access Twitter quite easily from my new phone, so I can keep everyone updated. The feed does run here on the blog, or you can follow Bean on Twitter. And if you haven't ventured a guess as to Bean's arrival information, feel free to visit the baby pool that we set up and chime in. There aren't any spectacular prizes (except bragging rights, I guess), but it'll be fun to see who wins anyway. Not much time left to enter!

Can you believe it's really so close?

--

Photo source

Reflection on Week Thirty-Three

This week was a little chaotic. Hubby's friend was in town until Thursday, which was wonderful, but company always means a different schedule, so this weekend I felt like I was playing catch up quite a bit. (Not that I'd have it any other way--it was great to see Dustin!)

In addition to being very tired, not being able to cool off, and having morning sickness back, I'm finding myself feeling very emotional lately. I know pregnant women often get emotional, but it's frustrating to me to feel this way and not know why, and not really be able to do anything about it. I feel very out of control.

I think part of the reason it makes me nervous to be so emotional is because it reminds me of a time in my life I've tried hard to move past. When I was in high school and college, I really struggled with depression. I don't want to fall back into that, especially at this point in my life.

Each day that passes is making me a little more nervous about what's to come. What's funny, though, is that I'm more nervous about bringing Bean home than the labor/delivery part of it. (Not that I'm not nervous about that, of course.) I want everything to be ready, and I want the transition from just Hubby and me to our new little family to go smoothly.

I'm also feeling torn because, on one hand, I'm ready for Bean to be here. I'm ready to be done with my pregnancy and be able to cuddle my son in my arms. But on the other hand, I'm terrified that he'll come too early and have to stay in the hospital for a while. I just want him to be healthy, so I'd rather he come "late" (which is a relative term since his readiness is really dependent on him and not a date chosen based on my somewhat irregular cycle).

I think Bean has turned head-down now. I woke up a couple of days ago and my stomach wasn't sticking out as much, and my belly button had flattened a little more. At first I thought his head had dropped, but my mom thinks it was just that he turned. She told me that when his head drops, I'll definitely know, and I'll feel like he's dropped down between my knees. While we talked, she also brought up some baby gear items I hadn't really thought about, but that I'll probably need right away. So I added a few of them to our registry, and Mom said she's going to send me a basket of "little things" I'm going to need.

Mom is really excited about Bean. She adores her new role as Nana, and her excitement is helping to keep me excited, even through my nerves. She keeps reminding me that the moments that I cuddle Bean or the first time I hear him coo at me will make any anxieties or frustrations well worth it. Even her reminding me of that helps quite a lot.

I just hope I can remember it on my own over the next several weeks!