Pregnant After IUI: Week 33

My baby's skull is fully formed, but of course still not fused. When Baby is awake, s/he keeps his/her eyes open. Baby is also working on the whole breathing with sucking and swallowing maneuver. Even the brain is still developing. It seems like we're so close, but there's so much left for Baby to do and to grow! Baby is somewhere between 17 and 18 inches long and around 5 pounds. Holy moly.

Baby is moving a lot still, but it's changing from the harder jabs and kicks to more just pressure and flutters. I guess that's fairly common later in pregnancy as Baby runs out of room. I kind of miss the jabs and kicks already. =[

Baby gets hiccups a lot--like at least once a day, sometimes more. And they last for like 10 minutes sometimes! That would be so infuriating to me, but it's kinda fun when it's Baby who's hiccuping.

I had a prenatal appointment today, and Baby is measuring at 35 weeks and is posterior, meaning the back of Baby's head and Baby's spine are towards my back. I need to try to get Baby to turn anterior, so the face is facing my back. That makes for an easier labor. So I'll have to work on that.

My hands and feet are still mildly swollen. I've been soaking them in cool water with lemongrass and lavender essential oils, and aside from it smelling amazing, it feels pretty good, too. I think it's helping my feet. I've only done it a couple of times, but I'm going to continue with it.

It's getting hard to bend over if I'm sitting down. Standing I'm okay, but if I'm sitting--forget it.

A new (not-so-fun) symptom this week has been the inability to fall asleep at night. It's only happened a few times, but there was a stretch of 3 or 4 nights in a row where I was exhausted, went up to bed, and proceeded to lie awake for 1 1/2-2 hours, all while getting up to pee 5 or 6 times in that tine frame. It was super obnoxious.

We had the baby shower on Saturday! It was so much fun! We got SO MUCH STUFF! I'd post a picture, but the camera is way on the other side of the room and I'm too lazy tired to get up to get it. If I think of it I'll add it in later, but it may just end up on facebook instead. We got clothes; a baby monitor; some adorable shoes; lots of bath accessories, including a tub, a towel, and lots of toys; cloth diapers; swaddlers; and even a nerf gun that we registered for, because why not? Also, my aunts and uncles on my mom's side of the family bought us a TRAVEL SYSTEM, including the car seat, a base, and a stroller... ridiculously awesome. There are still a lot of things we need to get, but that shower sure put a big dent in the list!

I feel a little panicked that we only have ONE MORE MONTH before I'm considered full term... I'm guessing I'll be pregnant longer than that (possibly 2 months or more!), so I'm trying not to freak out, but really that's kinda scary. I don't feel ready to deal with labor and I'm not convinced I'm ready to be a mother, even though it's something I've wanted for so long... it's just a huge responsibility. Anyone who's a mom knows what I mean. I'm sure things will turn out fine, it's just intimidating to look forward to.

This is a long post, so I'm going to stop ranting. See you all next week.

OH BUT FIRST. What do I need in my hospital bag and what did you find was a lifesaver for post partum aches and pains? Looking for some ideas...readysetgo.

Pregnant After IUI: Week 32

Eight weeks until my due date. Less than two calender months. How is that possible?

According to Everydayfamily.com, baby is about 16.5 inches long, and 4.5 lbs... that's quite a bit bigger than the 2.5-4 lbs that thebump.com claims. Both say baby is gaining quickly, though, and the skin is filling out with all that fat that's getting deposited. Also, Baby is sleeping around 90-95% of the day! Which explains why I don't feel movement quite as much. Also, Baby is now head down, huzzah! I REALLY didn't want a breech baby, because that's an automatic c-section at the hospital I'm delivering in. I mean, I suppose there's a lot of time left, and Baby COULD turn breech, but let's hope that doesn't happen.

Really the only new symptom I've had is cramping. So, Monday night I woke up in quite a bit of pain with menstrual-like cramps, which is supposedly what contractions feel like, only it seemed to last forever and wasn't so much of a wave as a bombardment. I tried rolling onto my other side, and discovered that I was incredibly dizzy. Eventually it went away (felt like 5-10 minutes after I woke up, but I didn't check my phone so it could have been very different, time-wise.) But then I started getting another shortly after. And I suppose, being awake for the start of the second, it did sort of build. Anyway, when the second one started, I thought maybe it would help if I peed, so I got up, and was still dizzy, but made it to the toilet and that didn't help at all. So I went to lie back down and that one went away after a while. I fell back to sleep, but when I got up the next morning, I was still dizzy, and had a few very mild cramps. My abs and uterus were sore, and if I stretched out during the day Tuesday my uterus would get really sore for a while. The dizziness and cramps were gone by mid-morning, though, so I didn't call anyone. I figured it's just that I'm so pregnant. If it were to happen again and not stop, then I'd call. But that was a fun experience, anyway. I got to practice my relaxation techniques! haha

As for other symptoms, the swelling in my hands is pretty steady, but that could be in part from the heat this week. My feet are even swelling a little, though not bad. Little to no indigestion to speak of. OH! Baby must have dropped a bit, because I can now walk up stairs and not sound like a winded rhino! Score!

On a different note, it's amazing how fast I can go from, "My uterus really hurts, and I haven't felt baby in the last 5 minutes, but I just felt baby move a few hours ago, so I know everything is fine," to "Oh my gosh, I haven't felt Baby for a few hours, and my uterus like, really hurts... what if my baby is in distress, or not getting enough oxygen, or the placenta has detached from the uterine wall and that's why it hurts and why Baby isn't moving... Please, God, let me feel Baby move just a little to know everything's okay!" And then invariable Baby twitches or wiggles or squirms just enough for me to feel it and know everything is all right again. It's really quite the roller coaster of emotions, lol. It's almost like I don't realize how in tune I am to Baby, and how much I worry about it, until I'm lying in bed and it's the middle of the night and I realize I haven't felt the baby since before I went upstairs. It's weird.

As for the nursery, we decided to NOT stain OR seal the dressers, and it was an awesome decision, because neither of us wanted to spend the time or money it would have required to do the thing properly. So that's been a HUGE weight off our shoulders. They are now put together and ready to be put where we want them, but without the crib up there yet, it's hard to say where that will be. The curtains are up, Jon got a changing table from Savers and put that together, and my shower is this weekend! It feels like things are coming together, but we'll see what we get. We still need several big items, and I doubt we'll get them all, so I may still be stressed next week. But it'll all work out.

That was my week. I will try to remember to have Jon help me with a belly pic this evening, and post it at least on facebook, if not add it to here as well.

Pregnant After IUI: Week 31

My baby will be full term in 6 short weeks... and there's still so much to do! The nursery is FINALLY painted; now we need to clean it and start moving stuff in... although we don't have a crib yet, and the dressers still need to get sealed. I would like to get the shower doors taken off an put a curtain up, which means I need to find my shower curtain. We have to finish unpacking (or at least relocating) all of the boxes in the dining room, rearrange the kitchen cupboards to make room for baby stuff, move the dining room table from the mud room into the dining room, get shelving up in the mud room, make a baby blanket, some burp cloths, and finish the wall art for the nursery... ugh. On the plus side, my baby shower is in a week and a half, yay! I can't wait...

So this week Baby is, according to everydayfamily.com, a whopping 16 inches long and close to 4 pounds, and is set to gain about half a pound a week for the next few weeks. That's incredible. Baby is moving a lot, and it's sometimes hard to breathe because of it. Every once in a while I'll take a great big breath and realize I wasn't getting enough air. It's kind of odd. Baby's eyes are working and can respond to light, and all five senses are functional. Baby's brain and nerves are continuing to mature. Lots of growth going on!

As for me, as I said, I'm out of breath a lot, and I'm apparently still dealing with the irrational irritation sometimes, although that DOES seem to be better. I'm craving fruit, which is fine with me. I have had a couple of times where my gums bleed after brushing or flossing, and that's new, but it's not a lot... maybe 3-4 times in the last 2 weeks or so. I had some indigestion like yesterday and the day before or something, but the ACV in water fixed it right up and I've had no issues since. I'm pretty much always a little swollen now, and... was it last night? it was hard to get my wedding ring off. But over all it's been super manageable. Trying to think if there is anything else... I have a prenatal appointment this afternoon, and I get to hear Baby's heart "beep," which I am really looking forward to.

I feel like babies born now have such a good chance for survival... yes, it's still early, and Baby can stay in there for a while yet, but it's comforting to know that my baby would likely be okay--with lots of time in the NICU, I'm sure--if I were to go into labor now. We aren't READY for a baby now, but knowing that Baby would probably live is a huge comfort. I remember early in my pregnancy thinking, "What's the point of calling the doc if something is wrong? There is so little they can do at this point." But now, it's like, real. I don't really know how to describe it. Anyway, I'm happy to be this far along, and I'm excited to meet this little person.

Oh, and today I was thinking about how weird it will be to not be able to FEEL every single one of Baby's kicks and wiggles, but to see them instead, and the facial expressions, and all of that... so cool. August is so close!

Pregnant After IUI: Week 30

THIRTY. WEEKS. Technically, that is 1/4, one quarter, 75% done with this pregnancy... YIKES. Although, my dad likes to remind me that you're not to the halfway point until you reach that last month... He's probably right!

So thebump.com and everydayfamily.com both seem to agree that baby is about 15.5 inches long and close to 3 pounds this week... no wonder my stomach feels so heavy! I realize this will only get worse... Baby's eyes can open and close, and when they're open, Baby can follow a light! I hope my baby's eyes are developing on target, and that s/he won't have as many issues with eyes as I have. Baby is gaining fat and filling out, and will start replacing some of the amniotic fluid with all that increased growth.

My symptoms include: shortness of breath, feeling like a fat house, peeing every 10 minutes, low energy, easily overheated, and lots and lots of movements from Baby. The swelling has not gotten any worse, I don't feel like I have "pregnancy brain" (although maybe that means my case is so advanced that I can't even remember when I forget things?), haven't had much heartburn/indigestion, or even too much difficulty sleeping (although I wake up every 2 hours or so to pee and re-situate...). I feel like I'm having such an easy pregnancy.

The nursery is painted!! Well, Jon has a little bit of touching up to do on the trip, but otherwise it's DONE!! FINALLY. Now we need to clean it (it is absolutely filthy up there from drywall dust, and other crap) and then we can start moving in furniture! We do need to stain the dressers still, but once those are done I'll be able to start moving things in and putting them where I want them to live... I can't wait.

I've also made leaps and bounds cleaning out our dining room (the "Room of Requirement" for the last 8 months), although that's been put on hold for a week or so since my SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED ON SATURDAY. So that's fun! But super busy.

I've been stressing a little bit about how much we have left to do and how little time we have to do it all.. but my shower is in a couple of weeks, and then we can really get down to business on what we need to get and get it set up. Looking forward to getting everything ready.

We worked on our birth plan this week! There are just a few more things we need to add to it. And I haven't even thought about my hospital bag, yet, and I'll need to get on that soon. Oh my gosh, I have so much to do! The baby COULD come at any time, now, although we WOULD like to wait, oh, say, 2 more months, but really, that's not that long at all!

Okay... breathe... just get through this week with the wedding, and THEN I can nest...