My Birth Plan

Thought I'd lay it all out publicly. That's just how I be.

• JUST me and Brian in the delivery room. A special thank you to all my family and friends who did not request an invite. You da real MVP.

  

  
  

• Bring a huge suitcase of crap I probably won't use to the hospital including makeup and a hair straightener.

  

  I look this good

• Definitely taking a bath for sure. But because I'm modest I'll be wearing a bikini top thankyouverymuch. Last time a nurse commented about how I did that and it being weird (in so many words) and I just want to give you the biggest middle finger I can see. Yeah sure, you'll probably see a lot more of me later but that doesn't mean I want to be fully on display.

  

  
  

• Getting an epidural. I'd actually like an epidural right now if you don't mind.

  

  Something like that...

• I'ma eat. Last time they told me I couldn't but I found out recently that the midwife policy is to let us laboring moms eat. I feel cheated. 

• Regardless of when exactly I have the baby, there will not be an ISU men's basketball game playing in the background - even if it is the Kansas game. 

  

  
  

• Husband has to triple check this time around that no photo is posted of me online with nipple showing.... and left up for like 3 days unnoticed. That... um... happened to a friend of mine.
  
• But the most important thing, above all else, is to have a healthy baby! By whatever means necessary. I can't wait to meet this lil guy. +/- 34 days and counting!
  

35/35

It's impossible.

I'm 35/35.

Holy crap. I've said this pregnancy has gone fast but I didn't realize I'd hit this milestone before I could even blink.

In this photo, me in my prepregnancy pants. I'm carrying HIGH as you can see. Little man is kicking and stretching pretty consistently but that anterior placenta is still making it hard to feel ALL the moves like I did with Nolan.

This little man is going to be here before we know it. And for the record we did finally decide on a name. The name was "warm" to me at first but now it feels like "the one" and definitely seems to be a keeper. We're still keeping the name a secret though because I'm afraid of opinions. If you don't like the name and you tell me when the baby is born then you get to kiss my steel toed boots (or whatever).

Overall still feeling pretty much ok. I'm getting mild heartburn here and there and ready for that to be over. And more than anything I'm really getting ready for this rib pain to be gone. It's getting worse. The pain is more sharp now which is scary to me... like I'm really hurting something on the inside.

I guess I'm officially at weekly appointments considering I'm having my "34" week appointment this week since I delayed it due to a busy work week last week. So yeah... pretty much 5ish weeks of appointments on a weekly basis.

I'm feeling contractions ALL the time which is crazy. I want to know if they're doing anything productive. I mean, not TOO productive because I don't want baby here for at least 2 weeks. But I want to know if I should be getting that, erm... checked out.

Anyways! Post and run... just wanted to share this milestone!

34 Weeks!

Baby grew quite a bit in the past few weeks! This little man is probably 5ish pounds at this point which is just insane.

I haven't mentioned that baby has been measuring a little bit long in the fundal height measurements (that's basically when they measure your uterus by poking at your stomach to find the top and bottom of it... FUN). My midwife told me the larger measurements are nothing to worry about unless they're 2 cm higher than the number of weeks pregnant you are. And in that case they'd do an ultrasound to ensure that the baby isn't restricted growth and make sure that everything else is going ok. 

Having a 2nd baby isn't at all like having the 1st. With Nolan, I was able to prepare his nursery with everything super clean and organized and lined up to a "T". This time around, the nursery is a mess and well, the whole rest of the house is a mess too. Having a toddler/tornado running around the house makes for not an easy pregnancy.

To be honest, the biggest complaint I have has to be this back pain which over the weekend became unbearable at times. It feels like parts of my back have been crushed like glass and that there are tiny shards of this glass stuck in places I can't rub, ice, or heat away. 

I'm seconds away from spending a small fortune on a stupid maternity pillow that I'll only have use of for another 6 weeks. Worth it? Probably... Will I buy it... ughhhhhhhh it's like $60. Cheapskate wins for now. 

Lately I've been- I've been losin' sleep

Well it's not a Friday... what the EFF?

Ok, it has been a long week and on Tuesday I definitely thought it was Thursday and today is the Iowa/ISU bball game so the Dean let us wear jeans so it definitely feels Friday-y (even though I never get to wear jeans *sigh*)

Long story short, it's been a rough few days sleepwise. First of all, Tuesday night - Nolan woke up around 1:30AM and I thought he had a nightmare so I was ok with sleeping in bed with him to keep him calm.

MISTAKE

(BTW, if you're a scrubs fan, I tried googling "Scrubs Opera Singer, Mistake" like 200 times, but kept spelling "opera" like "oprah" going HOW THE EVERLIVING EFF DO YOU SPELL OPERA/OPRAH?)

Well I was up with him for a good 2 hours while he was laying there next to me. I'd sort of zone off into sleep but he was awake the whole time. He was being incredibly sweet and sort of playful but not obnoxiously so. He saw me laying there silently (listening to him play) and he kissed me and said "night night, mama" which obviously melted my heart. But alas after 2 hours of essentially no sleep I gave up and moved back into my own room where I had about an hour and a half of tossing and turning because I couldn't get comfortable.

I can't sleep on my back because then I don't feel like I can breath
I can't sleep on my stomach because my stomach
I can't sleep on my left side because my rib hurts on the left and the weight from the baby puts more force on that rib
I can barely sleep on my right but my shoulder isn't comfortable...

What's crazy though is that, should everything go well, this will likely be the last time I'm pregnant. So I really only have 40-some days left of pregnancy EVER. So for now, even though some things suck, like getting comfortable while sleeping, it's really nice to remember that I'm going to meet a little man in just a few short weeks that I'm going to love as much as Nolan (which is a LOT).

I've got my FMLA all squared away and I'm taking the full 12 weeks off of work to spend with my lil man. Nolan will likely continue at daycare 3-5 days a week depending on how I'm feeling. I think it's more fair for Nolan to get to have structure with a daycare rather than with a mom who's too tired to feed herself (pizza every day?)

But yeah, I'm 33ish weeks and here's what's going on.

• Weird pregnancy hormones are causing my hair to grow like crazy... ie, I shave under my arms but it's never enough... the next day I feel like a hippie
• Back pain requires me to take a nice long hot bath about every day to soothe my muscles... not too hot though because then I might cook my baby (oh the things they tell you NOT to do)
• I'm having braxton hicks contractions on the regular. Not at all painful but semi uncomfortable where my belly hardens. Usually happening after getting up after sitting down for a while, or exerting myself.

 I'm looking forward to:

• Packing my bag for the hospital, keeping in mind that I want to bring more baby outfits than last time
• Getting past December 18th where I have 2 large work events on the same day
• January where I can really start counting down the days til baby gets here
• Meeting this little guy!

If I pose with the camera at certain angles, I can almost look cute with my bump! There's another woman I work with who's due early January who still runs. 10. miles. a. day. She's cute, Italian, stylish, and I refuse to stand next to her for any reason other than the fact that she's extremely sweet and I love talking to her... but dammit - why does she have to be so darn cute? I mean, she's due before me but I look like I'm having triplets compared to her.

Without further ado

 Oh yeah. GO STATE!

My eye makeup looks atrocious. So this is what you're getting.

Holy Baloney - 31 Weeks

Baby

• Baby's going through major brain and nerve development.
• Eye development too. Irises now react to light!
• All five of baby's senses are in working order.

Mama

• Out of breath, since baby keeps squishing your lungs. Yup, hard to carry Nolan up stairs too, especially from the basement!
• Dry, brittle nails, thanks to all that extra nail growth. Not really, they're long, strong, and tend to get the friction on.
• Braxton Hicks contractions. Be sure you're drinking plenty of water and changing positions often. I don't think I really got these with Nolan but I'm definitely getting these with this baby!
• Leaky boobs. That's baby's first food, called colostrum. Ummm, no comment. 
• Frequent urination. Your bladder's just as crowded as your lungs. Yes. Ugh. Yes. And it's never a significant amount, although it feels like I'm bursting!
• Backaches. Be sure to keep stretching. So much yes to this. Rib pain too. 
• Difficulty sleeping. Aches and pains, your big belly, pregnancy hormones, heartburn and anxiety are probably all contributing. Sometimes, I've been good on the nap front especially on weekends!

Total Weight Gain: I actually lost a pound from my 28 week appt to my 30 week appt. Which was great seeing as how the midwife was like "ohhh, you gained 4 pounds from week 24-28". I'm going to call her Judgey Mc'Midwife if I need to bring her up again. At my last appointment with her she dismissed my rib pain and projected symptoms onto me regarding the pain I was feeling. Example: Oh is the pain really deep? she asks... no it's actually at the surface as if something is bulgeing out for my ribcage. Oh, it's probably your stomach then... she says. K... but I HEARD my stomach growl on my right ribcage. I dunno, she's fine for the most part but I'm just not thrilled with the way that she just came up with the whole stomach theory and all.

Maternity Clothes: Sometimes! I actually can still fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans which is nothing short of a miracle. I also have some work pants I fit into pretty easily. I must be carrying high or something.

Symptoms: Mostly I am just feeling back and rib pain. It gets really intense at the end of the day. I've been putting ice packs on the painful areas and that helps temporarily. Usually the best fix is sleeping and then in the morning it feels better(ish).

Sleep: I'm doing fine on the sleeping front. Yesterday I took a 3.5 hour nap and still went to bed before 10pm.

Food Cravings: I think I know what sounds good when I see or smell it. Usually pizza hits the spot. I'm not too fond of leftovers. The smell of cold food makes me not hungry.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Sometimes when I brush my teeth I'll gag, but that's about it.

Movement:  This is my favorite. I have an anterior placenta which in layman's terms means that there's a cushion between my stomach and the baby (the cushion being the placenta). That means that I'm not feeling as intense of kicks as I did with Nolan, so when I do feel stuff it's really pretty cool. I miss that I can't watch my belly move with little feet sticking out. With Nolan, I had several times where he'd just jut out his foot and draaaaaag it along my stomach. Very "Alien" of him to be honest, but it was really neat!

Stretch Marks: None, and I don't have the linea negra either thank goodness. I'm sure that'll come.

Labor Signs: Just BH every once in a while.

Belly Button In or Out?: Medium. And this is where I get gross. I've had this... growth thing... in my belly button for as long as I can remember. This happened with Nolan last time too where I could see the "growth" and tug on it. Honestly it's like a dark skin tag. I want nothing more than to take a scissors to it and cut it off. This would be the time to do it.

Wedding Rings on or off?: On

Happy or Moody?: Mostly happy with some exceptions.

Purchases for baby: I've been pretty good about this. I think I've spent maybe like $50 or so on some new clothes for baby, but since we're having a boy we have most of the clothes we'll need. I think we might buy a new mattress because of something I read about SIDS in the past and a slight increase of the risk of SIDS with a used mattress... the last thing I want or need is another reason to have anxiety after this baby is born!

Purchases for Mama: Yes, actually. I spent too much money at A Pea In The Pod on 3 dresses. I look freaking cute in them, if I do say so myself.

Miss anything?: Oh yes, a super cold beer at the end of a hard work day/week!

Looking forward to: I'm looking forward to the fact that I'm on the 2 week plan for appointments with the midwives now, so I think my next thing is looking forward to the every week appointments! Then of course baby coming. I can't believe I'm down to 9 weeks left!