33 weeks

Hooray - it's Saturday, which means my most favorite activity - the turning of the calendar! Today I enter my 33rd week. So very super exciting!! I wanted to do state-of-the-union post, so I can have a record of how I was feeling at this point.

Things continues to chug right along here. I'm still swollen, and my hands are a touch sore from all the fluid in the morning, but it is par for the course I guess. My BP and urine monitoring are all good, so my OB says swelling for me is just that: swelling. Not real pre-ecclampsia signs. Shoes have become a tricky thing, as most of my normal shoes no longer fit me. I did by some $12 shoes at Tar.get, in a size and a half larger than I normally wear, and they seem to be doing the trick for more formal occasions. Otherwise, it is my sneakers, very loosely laced and barely tied. They are super-comfy.

The critter keeps wiggling around a lot, which I love. I can really feel her more now that she is bigger and running out of space. Every little wiggle I feel. And hiccups. I love those. Keep strengthening that diaphragm, critter girl! You'll need it soon enough.

Knock on wood, but the heartburn has really lessened in the past week. No idea why, but I'll take it. I still want spicy foods, we might go for Ethiopian today. Mmmmm, doro wat! Although I do notice if I eat too much (which I've been known to do on occasion) I get super short of breath. There is just not enough room for the critter, my lungs and a full stomach (which btw is now located under my left breast. Seriously, it will growl when I'm hungry, but it is growling under my left breast. So weird!!).

Knock on more wood, I'm still sleeping ok too. Sure, I'm up 4+ times a night to pee, but I fall back asleep pretty well. And I highly recommend a body pillow - it has really helped me prop myself into supported and comfy positions. I have a ginormus U-shaped one that supports under the belly and in my lower back at the same time. It is huge, but it has been a godsend. Also, I continue to sleep with my upper body propped up on about 4 regular pillows, and that has been great for stopping the vurping. So yeah, I sleep in a pillow fort, but it seems to be working.

Energy is still ok, not great, but I get what little I need to get done, done. We are making more progress on the nursery, and when it is done, I'll be sure to post pics. We are not doing the super-decorated thing, but I think it will look cute.

That is about it. My mood is generally ok, although I did have a minor pout-fest with Mr. P yesterday, for no real reason. Whoops. But for the most part I've been pretty normal, and super-grateful. I love 33 weeks!!

Thankful rambles

Not much of interest to report here, which is great! I do have an OB appointment this afternoon, but I'm sure it will be uneventful. I hope so, at least.

I'm mid-way through my 32 week now. Doesn't that sound great? 32. Such a big number. Every Saturday when the week changes, it is so exciting to me. Seriously, it does not get old to get a higher number. I sound like a broken record, I've been saying this since...well since I had weeks to count. But it is true, I'm so happy to have gotten this far. Sure, I'm having some minor complaints/symptoms: swollen legs, occasional heartburn, peeing all the time, waddling. But I'm just so happy to be at this point, who cares I have cankles?? I am not complaining to have any of these "problems", instead I feel so fortunate to have gotten to this point, I'm lucky that I get symptoms at all.

This year for Turkey Day, we are going to my in-laws. I'm only in charge of the cranberry sauce, but I'm also gonna try a new recipe for Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars. It is all the things I've been craving this fall: Caramel Apples (Affy Tapples, mmmm) and anything dairy. I'll let you know how they turn out.

We are putting some finishing touches on the nursery this weekend (I think). We have a big wall mural decal thingy of a tree with birds that we need to put up on the wall. I hope it is not too complicated, as I'm not that handy/artistic. And we got a little decal kitty to hide in the corner, like she is stalking the birds. I hope it turns out as cute as I imagine it to be.

The third trimester of grateful-ness cruises along here. This week is a week to pause and be thankful (here in the US, at least), but really, I've been feeling this way for awhile now. I know it is not as easy of a time for everyone in the IF fight, as wasn't for me in years past. But I hope there are bits of your life that make you smile, and I hope that everyone gets to a happy ending at some point. I know I'm thankful for all the support, love and encouragement you have all given me over the past few years. Hugs, all!

Grateful for stuff

It has begun.

Baby stuff has begun its campaign to take over my house. It began innocently enough, with the delivery of baby furniture. I mean, the kid will need somewhere to sleep and be changed, right? We even put everything together, so the room is sort of arranged.

But then the first shower happened. Which was very nice, and totally overwhelming. This shower was hosted by my MIL, and was attended by tons of Mr. P's cousins, second cousins and family friends of my in-laws. Try as I might, I can't keep all of these people straight. Which makes the whole party-in-our-honor thing more stressful. But whatever, I made it through, and it was a very nice event. And thank your chosen deity, no games. Thank you, MIL, for listening to me.

People are way too generous. So now my house has been taken over by baby stuff. It is overwhelming to see it all. I mean really, for a baby that will likely weigh less than my cat, she sure has a TON of stuff. More clothes than I do. More beauty products too. More of everything!

But I must admit, the clothes are cute. Some, really cute. The hats? Love those. And she got a little hoodie sweatsuit, which could be the sweetest thing I've ever seen. With pockets. I love pockets on baby clothes. I just imagine her keeping her chapstick and cell phone in there, like me.

It has been a challenge to find space for everything in our townhouse. But this kid apparently needs this stuff, so make room we will. It is becoming more real, day by day, that this critter inside me will use this stuff. Use it fairly soon, too. Wow.

The gratefulness continues around here. For people's generosity, for having more than we need, for this miracle of a critter that is growing and kicking and wiggling inside me. Very, very, grateful.

Birthing Class

I'm back!! My technology woes are over, hallelujah! Although the powercord for the big laptop is still on backorder, Mr. P surprised me with Xmas a little early, and got me a new netbook! Whooo-hooo! It is super-cute in lavender, so it will match the critter's room. I think this little netbook will be just perfect when me and the real-live critter are up at all hours of the day and night. Yay for early Xmas!!

So I promised a post about the I-don't-know-nuthin-bout-birthin-no-babies class we took (and extra reward points for those of you that actually got the GWTW reference there!). The class was recommended by my OB, and was given by the hospital where I'll deliver the critter. Major urban hospital, but also very new and fancy. It was taught by a RN, who has worked L&D in addition to other areas like post-partum. The class was over the course of 2 Friday nights, and were scheduled for 4 hours each.

So, overall, it was ok. I'm not really sure I learned anything new, or that I couldn't have read in a book. And honestly, the teacher was a bit of a loon, so it was hard to pay attention to all she was trying to communicate when she kept slipping out on random tangents. And honestly, I'm not sure it was super-helpful to me in particular, because I am all about pain management during labor. I get that some women go into labor wanting it unmedicated, but that is not me. Modern medicine got me this far, I'm not turning my back on her now!

That being said, it wasn't so helpful to see a video about these poor women struggling in pain during labor. I mean, it wasn't trying to portray these women badly, I'm sure they all felt empowered, but to me it looked awful. Really, it just confirmed my idea that epidurals are a great thing. And given my training in psychology, learning guided imagery techniques and relaxation techniques was totally boring. Been there, know that, wrote the dissertation.

And that was like half the class (or more!). The other parts about hospital-specific things, like registration, touring the facilities, state-mandated tests for newborns, discharge policies, all that was good info. And they did cover c-sections, so that was good to see too.

I almost think they need to have a separate class for us ladies that like the drugs, so we can go faster through all the when-you-are-in-labor-and-in-so-much-pain stuff, and get to the more practical/logistical stuff. Who knows, maybe I'm delusional and will need a lot of that info, but the loony teacher kept saying, "But if you have an epidural, this won't apply" so it seems like a lot of stuff I don't need to know.

So that was the childbirth class at my local hospital. I'm sure if you were interested in the unmedicated birth process, and wanted an overview of Lamaze, Bradley and other coaching techniques, it would have been helpful. But for me and Mr. P, eh, not so much. We are also registered to take Infant CPR (my OB insists on that) and Newborn Care 101 (because Mr. P don't know nuthin' bout diaperin' or bathin' no babies, and won't believe me). Those are in December, and hopefully will not be taught by the loony RN. Fingers crossed.

Barely in the 21st, but puffy and grateful

Still not on the laptop. The powercord we need is on backorder or something, so I'm on our ancient desktop. I hope this works. And man, do I hate sitting at a desk to surf the net. It is just not as fun as my couch. Alas, I am spoiled.

Anywhooo, I had my OB appointment on Monday night. All continues to go well, but we did have one little scare. Not even a scare, really, more like a startle? A minor surprise? I'm not sure what word means mini-scare, but that's what it was.

I've been having limb swelling - which in and of itself is not unusual in pregnancy. But my swelling seemed mostly in my right foot/ankle/cankle area. Like visibly larger than my left side. I almost didn't even bring it up, as every pregnancy book lists swelling as a common symptom. But at the end of the appointment, I casually mentioned the difference in my feet, and the doc seemed interested. She measured both ankles, and yup, big difference. While she said she had a low level of concern, she wanted me to get a doppler u/s of my leg done the next day.

She was trying to rule out a blood clot somewhere in my leg. So I was squeezed in at the vascular clinic at the hospital on Tuesday, and they did an u/s of both legs. Thankfully, no clots for me! Hooray! So it is mostly likely just poor lymphatic drainage caused by the way the critter is lying in my ute. Not sure how it all connects, but I guess it does, and it is all her fault. Oh well, I love her anyway.

In other exciting news, we got our baby furniture delivered!! How super-exciting is that? I've sat in the glider every day since, and just think about how I will spend lots of time sitting there with the IRL critter soon. Wow. It amazes me every time, and I am just so grateful. We still have to assemble the crib, but the dresser/changing table is set up - and again - WOW. I will change my baby there. WOW. It really does blow me away. It is hard to believe after all this time that there will be a critter baby coming to live with us. Joy. Pure joy. Sigh....

So that's where things are. We have the second I-don't-know-nuthin-bout-birthin-no-babies class on Friday, and we get a tour of the hospital, which I am really looking forward to. This is a new hospital building, and quite fancy from what I've seen so far. Can't wait to check the rest of it out. Will post thoughts on this childbirth class later- its been interesting.

My cat hates technology

I've been MIA on the interwebs since Wednesday - it seems like an eternity. I'm only now back on for a few minutes, on Mr. P's work laptop. I have missed everything on blogs - I hope everyone is ok. Thinking of you all. I miss you guys.

All because my Russian kitty is apparently Amish.

I get it, she wants me to pay attention to her, not this bright screen in front of me. But does she have to chew through every wire she encounters? We've had to replace phones, headphones, cell phone chargers - if it has a cable, we've had it chewed through. And trust me, we've tried everything. Cable protectors, vinegar on the wires, putting wires away in drawers.

It doesn't matter - she is Amish, hates the modern world, wants cuddles and damn if some stupid laptop is gonna get her in way.

So the new powercord (the 3rd we've been through since we got the new laptop a year or so ago!) is on it's way. I should be back in the 21st century sometime this week.

Until then - 30 weeks!! A number that begins with 3! OMG!! It feels like a huge huge milestone, hitting the 30's. Hooray! More posts on taking a childbirth class, and getting the nursery furniture this week, I promise. I hope.

What I said I'd never do

Warning - Pregnant belly shot inside. I won't be at all offended if you don't want to see.




Ok, I said no pictures. But my IRL friend who lives half the country away from me wanted to see this belly of mine, so I snapped a few pics to send her. And this one is fairly anonymous looking, so here ya go. 29.5 weeks looks like this on me:





Just don't pay attention to the 4-IVFs-plus-2-months-of-depot-loopyron-plus-FET-all-in-one-year back and butt fat, ok? And note the Tums bottle on the counter. It's always with me these days, my constant companion. My chalky-tasting shadow.

sugar hangover

Halloween festivities went off well. Saturday we had the block party, complete with a huge pumpkin moon bounce. The afternoon ended with 4 toddlers/infants and their parents in our house hanging out. It made me realize my house is not child-proof in any way. Dangers around every turn! Will need to work on that.

But what a difference a few years makes. A few years ago, we would have been just getting ready to go out, rocking out in crazy costumes at several Halloween parties and bars. This year, everyone was gone by 6pm, having to take their kids home for dinner and bedtime. My, how times change.

And actual Halloween was busy, as usual. A neighbor estimated we had about 250-300 kids. All I know is we ran out of the 400 pieces of candy within an hour and a half. Had to turn off the lights and close up shop. Iron Man was the most popular costume. Lots of kids with big puffy muscles.

I had terrible heartburn/vurps all weekend. I think it was because I did not eat too well, we had take-out both Friday and Saturday, it was greasier than I normally cook, and I ate later than I normally do. It really reinforces the need to cook for myself, and eat well. Last night I made dinner (we always have old-school tacos on Halloween!) and I was fine. Slept well, not a smidge of heartburn.

29 weeks, people. Oh my!