For those who have shown concern, I am feeling pretty much 100% after my trip to the ER now! I'm still careful not to overdo it, since even if I'm feeling better those muscles are still stretching, but I'm basically pain free now. Phew. If that's the worst thing to happen in this pregnancy I will definitely be counting my blessings (I am anyhow)!
I had my final monthly OB exam this week. I'll be going every 2 weeks now until the end, when it gets even more frequent. Things look good in general, the heartbeat still sounds great, etc. I had to do my glucose resistance test today, which consists of drinking 12oz of really sweet liquid and then getting your blood drawn an hour later. A lot of people have a hard time (you have to drink it in 5 minutes) and many throw up or at least feel really ill. It was basically like flat orange soda only even sweeter, but it wasn't too bad. When I laid down for the exam I got a tiny bit queasy but all in all it was much better than I expected. As usual it took several tries for the phlebotomist to hit a vein, but at least she was very gentle. I think I am just going to insist on a butterfly needle from now on if I need anymore bloodwork. I always encourage that, but most people seem to think they know better. Enough of that.
The doctor also told me that it's not uncommon to have issues with muscles stretching/pulling at this stage. He has another patient who coughed and actually tore the muscle, causing a hematoma and major bruising when it bled beneath the skin. Yikes!
I'm still ahead of the curve as far as the measurement of my stomach (28cm at the beginning of the week when it should be 26 or at the most 27), but it's still within 'normal'. My weight gain has really tapered off and I'm around 18-20 pounds still, varying with what I eat.
Speaking of eating, my appetite is varying wildly now! One day I can eat half a salad, and the next day I seem to have a lot more room. I seem to be either hungry or reallly full most of the time, and even when I can only eat a small amount at a time I need to eat again before too long. The donut craving persists, but I'm resisting it for the most part with only occasional splurges. Lucky for me I'm also still wanting fruit all the time, which is good. This week I discovered my new favorite snack! Half a cantaloupe filled with strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. Even with my new stomach size if I'm hungry I can eat it all. It can even squelch my sweet tooth even though I don't add any sugar, and right now all of the fruit is really nice at our store. Yum! Of course, another day I did the berries with chocolate dip and that was pretty good too. Brian shared THAT snack.
I went to a baby shower this week. There are still 4 of us that are pregnant in the squadron, but at this point there's only this one lady due before me. She's having a girl but very against anything too 'girly' so I went with some gender neutral green/yellow bath stuff. I absolutely adore the little hooded towels! I wanted to get some really frilly pink dresses and ruffly butt panties, but what are you going to do? A girl I worked with at the vet has a baby girl that's just a few months old, so I might have to go get her a 'present' of something ruffly. I have fallen in love with all of the cute boy clothes to be honest, but there's still a tiny urge to buy something girly and pink.
PeaBaby continues to grow and get stronger all the time! He's strong enough that if he kicks just right it can be uncomfortable. I'm not sure what organ he's beating on in there, but it doesn't feel too great :). At least once this week he kicked out to the side hard enough that it freaked Brian out. You can feel that it's a little foot and it sticks out pretty far. Weird. He's doing a lot more rolling and pushing now, but kicks and flutters and those odd all the limbs at once movements still happen pretty frequently too.
We had our last childbirth class, so apparently I'm now prepared. Hah! I think the breathing really will help, and I'm glad I got to ask so many questions. We'll be doing a tour of the hospital next month and that will be really good too. Our last few classes (infant CPR, breastfeeding and infant care) are in July, since there was a chance Brian would be gone for training for five weeks around now. Luckily, that's not going to happen now and other than some short trips he should be around for the rest of the summer!
The only other thing I really did this week was a squadron social. It was pretty fun, and I'm making some friends among the ladies now. Nothing super close and tight, but certainly acquaintances and I feel OK when Brian leaves town. I'm sure I can get a ride to the hospital if I need one!
Also, we broke 100 degrees and I've been swimming. Again, I'm trying to be a little careful not to overdo it, but it's nice to have the weight off. And it counts as exercise, right? Right!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
Week 26: May 11-17
One week closer!
I keep feeling a little better every day, and so Brian went on a training trip to Nellis AFB (in Las Vegas) this week. He left Sunday morning, but not before he got me all stocked up with food that would be easy for me to make before crawling back into bed. He should be home late tonight and I'm so glad! I missed him like crazy.
Monday I decided I felt well enough to attend our childbirth class (since we already missed the week when my parents were here). There is a ton of construction at the hospital, but I still managed to find a halfway decent parking place so I didn't need to walk too far. It was a really good class and we went over induction, fetal monitoring and pain management options. Can I just say, hooray for pain management options! I found out a few things that really helped lessen some of my anxiety about the whole labor pain thing. Among them, it's never too early to start an epidural (at least at this hospital). If you do it before "active labor" (5cm dilation) it can slow down the labor, but since you won't be feeling any pain it's not a big deal to get some pitocin to get it going again if necessary. Obviously that's not ideal, but I've been watching my delivery shows and I know that by then some women are in PAIN! It's also almost never too late for an epidural. They will give it at 10cm when you're pushing if there's enough break between pushes and the baby's arrival isn't really eminent. Since first time moms sometimes push for over 2 hours this is good to know. Not that I plan on waiting that long, to be honest, but at least I don't have to worry that if I stay home a little too long I won't be able to get some pain relief. And perhaps the best news of the day, the epidural can't "run out". Sometimes a doctor will turn it off or down when you get to the pushing stage but at St Joe's that's pretty rare because it irritates the anesthesiologist. Our teacher is an LD nurse there and she's had women go through 10 IV bags of Fentanyl - they just keep it coming. So basically, when I decide I need it I can have it and I don't have to worry about anything else too much. Yes, I am a total pansy and that makes me feel much better about things. Also, the epidural doesn't enter into the baby's system at all which is cool. The main possible problem is that it can drop my blood pressure, which can effect the baby's blood pressure and heartrate, but that's pretty rare.
Tuesday I was pretty sore since Monday night was the longest I had been really upright and the first time out and about since my ER visit. Luckily I was able to just take it easy.
Wednesday I got to see Abby Ormsbee Isaacson! I have no idea if I spelled her last name right. I haven't seen her at all in probably 7 years, but it's been longer than that since we've really talked. She lives in Tacoma and works for an organization that supports families with AIDS/HIV children. It was really great to see her and we hung out for 4 hours! Here we are at P.F. Changs:
PeaBaby is now big enough to keep me awake if he's up and moving. He's getting so strong, and he's still very active throughout the day. His most active time seems to be from about 7pm-11pm, and over the past few days I think it's getting later and later. I know it was after midnight when I finally drifted off last night. Thank goodness he's also sleeping in, or else I'm sleeping deeply enough that he hasn't woken me up too early. Hopefully with Daddy home tonight I'll sleep better in general and get back on a more normal schedule... if the kid will let me!
He's doing a new thing sometimes where he makes a whole bunch of tiny movements in a row and it almost feels like boiling water or something. I think he must be just wiggling hands and feet and knees all at the same time. It also looks really funny. If we can catch it I might have Brian videotape it, because that's something I don't want to forget!
The BellyButton Threat Level has officially been elevated to Orange. It's been stretching out weirdly for quite a while now, but in the last week or so it's getting closer and closer. Right now there's the little "button" in the middle but everything around it is puffy, and the skin outside is sort of shiny and red and... well, stretched looking. It's actually a lot more uncomfortable than I thought it would be. Duh, it probably isn't going to feel great to have your bellybutton turn itself inside out, right? I guess it just didn't occur to me.
I've been watching a lot more TV than usual this week, and I caught an episode of Special Deliveries, which is a Discovery show about babies and/or moms with issues. On this one there was a woman who was a few days into her 27th week, and had been in a high risk pregnancy facility for 28 days, trying to stave of early labor. They had her stable for that whole time, but now the contractions were too much and she was dilated, and they were worried that there might be a more serious reason why her body was trying to deliver the baby, so deliver him they did. It was really bizarre. He didn't look like a normal newborn of course, his face was a little odd and he was tiny (less than 3lbs) and skinny, with some lanugo and really red skin. Still, he was blinking and looking around, and grabbing his mom's finger, and when she tickled the bottom of his foot his itty bitty toes curled and he pulled it away. Well... that's just a few days from now for me. It was good to see the update at the end of the show saying he finally went home and is doing well - but really I'm not as worried about going into early labor as I was. The really strange part was to realize that THAT is what PeaBaby is like. A little baby with arms and legs and fingers and toes and eyebrows... a BABY inside of me. I know, I know, I feel all those appendages banging around in my stomach every day, but to really see it was pretty amazing. I'm going to have a baby! Wow.
Here is a side view of the 26 week old belly, and then a front view. I took them myself so they aren't great, but Brian's gone so you get what you get!
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I keep feeling a little better every day, and so Brian went on a training trip to Nellis AFB (in Las Vegas) this week. He left Sunday morning, but not before he got me all stocked up with food that would be easy for me to make before crawling back into bed. He should be home late tonight and I'm so glad! I missed him like crazy.
Monday I decided I felt well enough to attend our childbirth class (since we already missed the week when my parents were here). There is a ton of construction at the hospital, but I still managed to find a halfway decent parking place so I didn't need to walk too far. It was a really good class and we went over induction, fetal monitoring and pain management options. Can I just say, hooray for pain management options! I found out a few things that really helped lessen some of my anxiety about the whole labor pain thing. Among them, it's never too early to start an epidural (at least at this hospital). If you do it before "active labor" (5cm dilation) it can slow down the labor, but since you won't be feeling any pain it's not a big deal to get some pitocin to get it going again if necessary. Obviously that's not ideal, but I've been watching my delivery shows and I know that by then some women are in PAIN! It's also almost never too late for an epidural. They will give it at 10cm when you're pushing if there's enough break between pushes and the baby's arrival isn't really eminent. Since first time moms sometimes push for over 2 hours this is good to know. Not that I plan on waiting that long, to be honest, but at least I don't have to worry that if I stay home a little too long I won't be able to get some pain relief. And perhaps the best news of the day, the epidural can't "run out". Sometimes a doctor will turn it off or down when you get to the pushing stage but at St Joe's that's pretty rare because it irritates the anesthesiologist. Our teacher is an LD nurse there and she's had women go through 10 IV bags of Fentanyl - they just keep it coming. So basically, when I decide I need it I can have it and I don't have to worry about anything else too much. Yes, I am a total pansy and that makes me feel much better about things. Also, the epidural doesn't enter into the baby's system at all which is cool. The main possible problem is that it can drop my blood pressure, which can effect the baby's blood pressure and heartrate, but that's pretty rare.
Tuesday I was pretty sore since Monday night was the longest I had been really upright and the first time out and about since my ER visit. Luckily I was able to just take it easy.
Wednesday I got to see Abby Ormsbee Isaacson! I have no idea if I spelled her last name right. I haven't seen her at all in probably 7 years, but it's been longer than that since we've really talked. She lives in Tacoma and works for an organization that supports families with AIDS/HIV children. It was really great to see her and we hung out for 4 hours! Here we are at P.F. Changs:
PeaBaby is now big enough to keep me awake if he's up and moving. He's getting so strong, and he's still very active throughout the day. His most active time seems to be from about 7pm-11pm, and over the past few days I think it's getting later and later. I know it was after midnight when I finally drifted off last night. Thank goodness he's also sleeping in, or else I'm sleeping deeply enough that he hasn't woken me up too early. Hopefully with Daddy home tonight I'll sleep better in general and get back on a more normal schedule... if the kid will let me!
He's doing a new thing sometimes where he makes a whole bunch of tiny movements in a row and it almost feels like boiling water or something. I think he must be just wiggling hands and feet and knees all at the same time. It also looks really funny. If we can catch it I might have Brian videotape it, because that's something I don't want to forget!
The BellyButton Threat Level has officially been elevated to Orange. It's been stretching out weirdly for quite a while now, but in the last week or so it's getting closer and closer. Right now there's the little "button" in the middle but everything around it is puffy, and the skin outside is sort of shiny and red and... well, stretched looking. It's actually a lot more uncomfortable than I thought it would be. Duh, it probably isn't going to feel great to have your bellybutton turn itself inside out, right? I guess it just didn't occur to me.
I've been watching a lot more TV than usual this week, and I caught an episode of Special Deliveries, which is a Discovery show about babies and/or moms with issues. On this one there was a woman who was a few days into her 27th week, and had been in a high risk pregnancy facility for 28 days, trying to stave of early labor. They had her stable for that whole time, but now the contractions were too much and she was dilated, and they were worried that there might be a more serious reason why her body was trying to deliver the baby, so deliver him they did. It was really bizarre. He didn't look like a normal newborn of course, his face was a little odd and he was tiny (less than 3lbs) and skinny, with some lanugo and really red skin. Still, he was blinking and looking around, and grabbing his mom's finger, and when she tickled the bottom of his foot his itty bitty toes curled and he pulled it away. Well... that's just a few days from now for me. It was good to see the update at the end of the show saying he finally went home and is doing well - but really I'm not as worried about going into early labor as I was. The really strange part was to realize that THAT is what PeaBaby is like. A little baby with arms and legs and fingers and toes and eyebrows... a BABY inside of me. I know, I know, I feel all those appendages banging around in my stomach every day, but to really see it was pretty amazing. I'm going to have a baby! Wow.
Here is a side view of the 26 week old belly, and then a front view. I took them myself so they aren't great, but Brian's gone so you get what you get!
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Pictures Galore!
All of these are from Sunday, May 6th (Week 25)
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PeaBaby, Me and Grammy Tina
Plus Papa James
PeaBaby's very first motorcycle ride, featuring Papa James and the legendary Cap'n Jack!
One more shot of that all important first Harley ride.
This is also the same day (and outfit) as PeaBaby's first concert.
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PeaBaby, Me and Grammy Tina
Plus Papa James
PeaBaby's very first motorcycle ride, featuring Papa James and the legendary Cap'n Jack!
One more shot of that all important first Harley ride.
This is also the same day (and outfit) as PeaBaby's first concert.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Week 25: May 4-10
Well, this has been quite a week!
First of all, the last few days were spent with my parents. It was so great to have them here and really hard to see them go.
Sunday was a day of big milestones! First, PeaBaby's first motorcycle ride. That's right, my dad took me halfway down the road and back on Cap'n Jack, and it was a real photo op. I'll be uploading photos sometime this week, but I'm about at my upright on the computer limit now (more on why in a sec here). Brian was worried about shaking the baby to death or something, but while he did kick a little as usual he seemed just fine. Man, those pipes are loud and so cool! Then it was time for Grammy and Papa to head out, and of course we all cried. The puppies kept looking for them all day, and anytime a dirtbike went past (constantly) they perked up and ran to the garage door. Poor little ones. I can't imagine dealing with that same reaction from my baby. Seriously, I think all of our family just needs to follow us across the country wherever we may go. You guys get right on that!
The next milestone was that night, when we went to a Tool concert. It was totally awesome as far as shows go, though not what we expected in some respects. There was a lot of backlighting and cool video stuff behind the band, and the lead singer was almost never in any light at all - definitely never in his own spotlight, so it was mostly just his sillhouette. He also stood off center and not down at the front of the stage and was pretty lowkey. Odd for a rock arena show, but cool in its own way. We were both a little worried about "Wacky Tobaccy" and that the baby just wouldn't handle all the noise well, but it was great. Although I will admit I did smell pot a little here and there I never actually had any smoke in my face, and for the most part it was very clear. They patted everyone down looking for lighters and stuff (not very successfully) so I'm sure that helped. As for the noise, it was extremely bassy and I was a little concerned. It hit right at the baby's most active time of day, so he did move around some, but not any more than normal. Partway through he quieted down entirely, either giving up and cowering in some corner or just happy to be vibrated around. Apparently, he is a music fan! The worst part was being upright and on my feet for that long. I felt lame, but had to sit down off and on throughout the concert, and my feet and back were a little sore even the next day. Still, totally a great time.
Wednesday we got our new couches, which look FANTASTIC in our living room. Again, pictures will be forthcoming this week. I still need to call to have Habitat for Humanity or someone come pick up the old ones which are in our garage. They're in decent shape anyhow, and we have some light fixtures we took down to donate too.
Brian had a fierce sinus infection and only worked a few hours, so we both crashed in the afternoon, napping on our new couches. I woke up around 3:30 and really had to pee (as usual), but noticed that the right side of my stomach was also really hurting. I figured I might have stretched something funny, because I was laying on my side without a pillow under my belly, but no big deal. Getting up, walking, and ESPECIALLY going to the bathroom hurt quite a bit. Weird. It sort of felt like round ligament pain, but a bit more intense, so I figured I'd just wait it out. Hours passed and rather than getting better it just got worse and worse. Bad enough that Brian had to help me up off the couch and into the bathroom, and I was breathing funny and nearly in tears. I started to worry that it might be something serious, though the usual "water breaking/bleeding/vomiting" signs weren't there. I left a message at my OB's office, then called the after hours number to have him paged. An hour later I called again and had her make it urgent, and got a call right back. It was the other doc in the practice's night on call, and he didn't really have any answers, but suggested I go get it checked out.
So then I called our hospital to see what the procedure might be (just show up at the ER), and THEN I had to call TriCare to get the on base folks to OK the visit. When I had my kidney stone this took about 30 seconds. Wednesday it was this whole drawn out 30 minute process, and by the time it was over I was pretty ticked. RED TAPE! >:|
Brian was busily getting a backpack full of stuff in the meantime, and he was brilliant enough to think of contact solution and my glasses. I don't know what I would do without him.
When we got to the ER he brought a wheelchair, then left me in the lobby to sign in while he moved the car. Last year I had a friend with appendicitis, and in spite of the fact that he was dillusional and in severe pain for over 12 hours it took them almost an hour to even triage him. Before Brian was back from re-parking the car they were ready to wheel me up to labor and delivery. He caught us just in time because the guy pushing me up there wasn't sure of his directions, otherwise we would have been long gone. They immediately hooked up a fetal heartbeat and contraction monitor, and even though he was moving I can't tell you how reassuring that steady little swish-swoosh was. The nurses were fantastic and for a painful and scary experience it was really pretty fabulous. They did a bunch of tests checking for urinary/kidney problems or appendicitis, and in the end everything came back negative. They also did a test which checks for the presence of the hormones that cause labor, so it's pretty definite that I won't be going into labor for at least 2 weeks! Phew. Of course, that's a very long story very short, as the pain kept getting worse especially when I moved. A few liters of fluid in my IV had me in the bathroom more than I really wanted, and every trip reduced me to practicing my breathing, tears, sweat, and shakes. This is the time when Brian's brilliance comes in, as I cried out one of my contacts, but managed to find it and switch to glasses. Thank you sweetie! At one point I told the nurse "I am such a wimp, I'm never going to make it through labor!" She said, "Oh honey, you'll have an epidural way before it gets this bad". Huh. Well I guess that's sort of reassuring. They offered morphine but I had already decided not to take anything for pain unless I really couldn't stand it. I knew they wouldn't give me anything that would be too terrible for the baby, but a narcotic in my bloodstream can't be good. Plus, I wanted to be able to see if it was getting better or worse (WORSE!). In the end they decided that it was "just" a pulled muscle, and told me to rest as much as I could. The important thing is that I'm OK and the baby is OK. He was so active both nurses remarked on it more than once. "Wow, he really doesn't like that monitor putting pressure on him, look at him go!" There may be something to that, but it seemed pretty normal to me actually.
So the rest of the week was relaxing as much as I could, trying not to pay attention to the discomfort, and Brian doing everything in his power to keep me comfy and provided for. It has been sort of rough honestly, but its getting better every day and I couldn't ask for a better partner through it all.
Phew.
On an odd note, I didn't gain that much weight this week, and am still at about +18. I figured the parents being here would have made me gain more, but apparently not. We're now on bellybutton watch as it looks to be getting pretty close to doing the whole inside out thing, and the baby is more active and stronger every day. Especially when he is jamming his sweet little head into my pulled/torn muscle. Ouch. I'm just happy he's still bouncing around in there. :)
First of all, the last few days were spent with my parents. It was so great to have them here and really hard to see them go.
Sunday was a day of big milestones! First, PeaBaby's first motorcycle ride. That's right, my dad took me halfway down the road and back on Cap'n Jack, and it was a real photo op. I'll be uploading photos sometime this week, but I'm about at my upright on the computer limit now (more on why in a sec here). Brian was worried about shaking the baby to death or something, but while he did kick a little as usual he seemed just fine. Man, those pipes are loud and so cool! Then it was time for Grammy and Papa to head out, and of course we all cried. The puppies kept looking for them all day, and anytime a dirtbike went past (constantly) they perked up and ran to the garage door. Poor little ones. I can't imagine dealing with that same reaction from my baby. Seriously, I think all of our family just needs to follow us across the country wherever we may go. You guys get right on that!
The next milestone was that night, when we went to a Tool concert. It was totally awesome as far as shows go, though not what we expected in some respects. There was a lot of backlighting and cool video stuff behind the band, and the lead singer was almost never in any light at all - definitely never in his own spotlight, so it was mostly just his sillhouette. He also stood off center and not down at the front of the stage and was pretty lowkey. Odd for a rock arena show, but cool in its own way. We were both a little worried about "Wacky Tobaccy" and that the baby just wouldn't handle all the noise well, but it was great. Although I will admit I did smell pot a little here and there I never actually had any smoke in my face, and for the most part it was very clear. They patted everyone down looking for lighters and stuff (not very successfully) so I'm sure that helped. As for the noise, it was extremely bassy and I was a little concerned. It hit right at the baby's most active time of day, so he did move around some, but not any more than normal. Partway through he quieted down entirely, either giving up and cowering in some corner or just happy to be vibrated around. Apparently, he is a music fan! The worst part was being upright and on my feet for that long. I felt lame, but had to sit down off and on throughout the concert, and my feet and back were a little sore even the next day. Still, totally a great time.
Wednesday we got our new couches, which look FANTASTIC in our living room. Again, pictures will be forthcoming this week. I still need to call to have Habitat for Humanity or someone come pick up the old ones which are in our garage. They're in decent shape anyhow, and we have some light fixtures we took down to donate too.
Brian had a fierce sinus infection and only worked a few hours, so we both crashed in the afternoon, napping on our new couches. I woke up around 3:30 and really had to pee (as usual), but noticed that the right side of my stomach was also really hurting. I figured I might have stretched something funny, because I was laying on my side without a pillow under my belly, but no big deal. Getting up, walking, and ESPECIALLY going to the bathroom hurt quite a bit. Weird. It sort of felt like round ligament pain, but a bit more intense, so I figured I'd just wait it out. Hours passed and rather than getting better it just got worse and worse. Bad enough that Brian had to help me up off the couch and into the bathroom, and I was breathing funny and nearly in tears. I started to worry that it might be something serious, though the usual "water breaking/bleeding/vomiting" signs weren't there. I left a message at my OB's office, then called the after hours number to have him paged. An hour later I called again and had her make it urgent, and got a call right back. It was the other doc in the practice's night on call, and he didn't really have any answers, but suggested I go get it checked out.
So then I called our hospital to see what the procedure might be (just show up at the ER), and THEN I had to call TriCare to get the on base folks to OK the visit. When I had my kidney stone this took about 30 seconds. Wednesday it was this whole drawn out 30 minute process, and by the time it was over I was pretty ticked. RED TAPE! >:|
Brian was busily getting a backpack full of stuff in the meantime, and he was brilliant enough to think of contact solution and my glasses. I don't know what I would do without him.
When we got to the ER he brought a wheelchair, then left me in the lobby to sign in while he moved the car. Last year I had a friend with appendicitis, and in spite of the fact that he was dillusional and in severe pain for over 12 hours it took them almost an hour to even triage him. Before Brian was back from re-parking the car they were ready to wheel me up to labor and delivery. He caught us just in time because the guy pushing me up there wasn't sure of his directions, otherwise we would have been long gone. They immediately hooked up a fetal heartbeat and contraction monitor, and even though he was moving I can't tell you how reassuring that steady little swish-swoosh was. The nurses were fantastic and for a painful and scary experience it was really pretty fabulous. They did a bunch of tests checking for urinary/kidney problems or appendicitis, and in the end everything came back negative. They also did a test which checks for the presence of the hormones that cause labor, so it's pretty definite that I won't be going into labor for at least 2 weeks! Phew. Of course, that's a very long story very short, as the pain kept getting worse especially when I moved. A few liters of fluid in my IV had me in the bathroom more than I really wanted, and every trip reduced me to practicing my breathing, tears, sweat, and shakes. This is the time when Brian's brilliance comes in, as I cried out one of my contacts, but managed to find it and switch to glasses. Thank you sweetie! At one point I told the nurse "I am such a wimp, I'm never going to make it through labor!" She said, "Oh honey, you'll have an epidural way before it gets this bad". Huh. Well I guess that's sort of reassuring. They offered morphine but I had already decided not to take anything for pain unless I really couldn't stand it. I knew they wouldn't give me anything that would be too terrible for the baby, but a narcotic in my bloodstream can't be good. Plus, I wanted to be able to see if it was getting better or worse (WORSE!). In the end they decided that it was "just" a pulled muscle, and told me to rest as much as I could. The important thing is that I'm OK and the baby is OK. He was so active both nurses remarked on it more than once. "Wow, he really doesn't like that monitor putting pressure on him, look at him go!" There may be something to that, but it seemed pretty normal to me actually.
So the rest of the week was relaxing as much as I could, trying not to pay attention to the discomfort, and Brian doing everything in his power to keep me comfy and provided for. It has been sort of rough honestly, but its getting better every day and I couldn't ask for a better partner through it all.
Phew.
On an odd note, I didn't gain that much weight this week, and am still at about +18. I figured the parents being here would have made me gain more, but apparently not. We're now on bellybutton watch as it looks to be getting pretty close to doing the whole inside out thing, and the baby is more active and stronger every day. Especially when he is jamming his sweet little head into my pulled/torn muscle. Ouch. I'm just happy he's still bouncing around in there. :)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Weeks 23-24: April 20-May 3
Oh man! I just got this all finished, and when I went to post it my silly internet connection had dropped. This is a good reason to use Mozilla instead of IE- my whole post is gone and I have to retype it. Grr!
Anyhow. These were 2 very busy, fun, productive weeks!
Week 23, AKA Grammy and Papa James are coming and we have lots to do:
Phew, what an insane week! With the help of my fantastic husband we managed to get everything done that I wanted.
It was a long week of early days getting up before the heat set in to weed and prune both yards. They don't look perfect but they look pretty nice, and I'm actually hopeful that even the sparse groundcover might come back in. I really do love our back yard!
The big project was organizing, purging, and rearranging the furniture in our 3 extra bedrooms. Originally they were a guest room, my craft room, and Brian's office. Now they are a nursery, a guest room, and a combo office respectively. This entailed a ton of work that I've been doing a tiny bit at a time, but on Monday I finally buckled down and boxed/shelved a bunch of stuff in the office, making room for the final transition. It still needs to be gone through, but it's in the closet so Brian can go through it at his leisure. I moved some furniture around and set up my craft table and neat new organizing cubes (which I built from a kit!) and got all my craft stuff moved over. When my parents came my dad helped move the bed, so now the guest room and office are all put together and the nursery is empty of anything not baby related. What a load off! I can't believe how quickly it all came together when I finally had a little energy and the drive to just get it done.
We also cleaned the house, and we did manage to get that fan up! It's gorgeous and the remote is really cool, and Brian is the best for doing it basically on his own. That ladder really is precarious for me :).
Due to all of the activity, the Pea was pretty quiet most of the week. He still had his active spurts, but as is pretty normal for the little squirts, the more I do the more he sleeps. I had a few days of worse heartburn due to stress/activity but nothing too bad. I am also continuing to gain 1-2 pounds a week, putting me at about +16.
Week 24:
Six months! Holy smokes. We are officially at the point where they start saying there's a good chance the baby would survive if born now, and it increases exponentially with each week from now on.
Of course the big news was my parents visiting. It was a terrific week of food, shopping, swimming and generally just hanging out. They laughed at my belly when they arrived because apparently it is "tiny and cute" and I whine about it way too much! Well, compared to what it was, it's big to me. Hee.
They spent way too much money, but it is their right as grandparents and of course we're totally thankful. Mom picked out a ton of tiny baby clothes, wipes, lotion/baby wash, the baby bath I wanted, receiving blankets and more! She's only had girls so she tended towards Winnie the Pooh, cute cartoon dinos and turtles and teddy bears. Oh, and we musn't forget a newborn sized Harley dewrag, a set of Harley bibs and a genuine leather vest with patches that will fit him when he's about 2. It's SO CUTE though. Grandma Becky (my husband's mom) sent a package of clothes as well, but she had two boys, so her items are much more rough and tumble. The themes are far more 'boyish' too, planes and tools and sports! And where my mom bought tiny baby beanies, Becky bought little baseball caps. Of course all of it is totally cute and I had to buy Dreft so I can wash and hang it all up.
Speaking of putting clothes away, we also got our nursery furniture! Oh my gosh, what a load off. It won't actually be here until later this summer, but it's just beautiful and exactly what I wanted. For anyone shopping for slightly higher end but still reasonable furniture. www.usababy.com is a great chain of stores. The customer service was phenomenal and the furniture we bought is solid wood. Thank you Papa James for the crib and mattress! It's the Baby's Dream Infinity stationary crib in Amber finish. We also got the tall 5-drawer dreser and the combo changer/dresser (we didn't get the hutch but we might someday). http://www.babysdream.com/Service/OnlineBroch/pdf/Infinity.pdf
On Thursday I had my first set of Braxton Hicks contractions which was sort of exciting. They felt like mild menstrual cramps and came and went a few times throughout the day. I haven't had any more, but my body is clearly getting ready for the inevitable end (or should I say new beginning) of this crazy journey!
PeaBaby was also much more his usual rambunctious self, and he's getting so strong! Strong enough that when he really pushes it can be uncomfortable and an unexpected kick is quite surprising. Grammy Tina and Papa James had a great time playing with him, talking to him, and reading him his new books. While it was amazing and fun and I'm so grateful that they were here, I can't help but be really heartsick at the fact that visits are all we will have, and too brief and infrequent at that. I really wish we could live near them during this pregnancy but more importantly after he's born. I can't believe he won't get to spend the weekend at grammy's whenever he wants. Being far from home is hard for me, but having my baby be far from home is much, much worse. We'll just have to take tons of pictures and make the most of every precious moment we have together, and that's what we'll do!
Anyhow. These were 2 very busy, fun, productive weeks!
Week 23, AKA Grammy and Papa James are coming and we have lots to do:
Phew, what an insane week! With the help of my fantastic husband we managed to get everything done that I wanted.
It was a long week of early days getting up before the heat set in to weed and prune both yards. They don't look perfect but they look pretty nice, and I'm actually hopeful that even the sparse groundcover might come back in. I really do love our back yard!
The big project was organizing, purging, and rearranging the furniture in our 3 extra bedrooms. Originally they were a guest room, my craft room, and Brian's office. Now they are a nursery, a guest room, and a combo office respectively. This entailed a ton of work that I've been doing a tiny bit at a time, but on Monday I finally buckled down and boxed/shelved a bunch of stuff in the office, making room for the final transition. It still needs to be gone through, but it's in the closet so Brian can go through it at his leisure. I moved some furniture around and set up my craft table and neat new organizing cubes (which I built from a kit!) and got all my craft stuff moved over. When my parents came my dad helped move the bed, so now the guest room and office are all put together and the nursery is empty of anything not baby related. What a load off! I can't believe how quickly it all came together when I finally had a little energy and the drive to just get it done.
We also cleaned the house, and we did manage to get that fan up! It's gorgeous and the remote is really cool, and Brian is the best for doing it basically on his own. That ladder really is precarious for me :).
Due to all of the activity, the Pea was pretty quiet most of the week. He still had his active spurts, but as is pretty normal for the little squirts, the more I do the more he sleeps. I had a few days of worse heartburn due to stress/activity but nothing too bad. I am also continuing to gain 1-2 pounds a week, putting me at about +16.
Week 24:
Six months! Holy smokes. We are officially at the point where they start saying there's a good chance the baby would survive if born now, and it increases exponentially with each week from now on.
Of course the big news was my parents visiting. It was a terrific week of food, shopping, swimming and generally just hanging out. They laughed at my belly when they arrived because apparently it is "tiny and cute" and I whine about it way too much! Well, compared to what it was, it's big to me. Hee.
They spent way too much money, but it is their right as grandparents and of course we're totally thankful. Mom picked out a ton of tiny baby clothes, wipes, lotion/baby wash, the baby bath I wanted, receiving blankets and more! She's only had girls so she tended towards Winnie the Pooh, cute cartoon dinos and turtles and teddy bears. Oh, and we musn't forget a newborn sized Harley dewrag, a set of Harley bibs and a genuine leather vest with patches that will fit him when he's about 2. It's SO CUTE though. Grandma Becky (my husband's mom) sent a package of clothes as well, but she had two boys, so her items are much more rough and tumble. The themes are far more 'boyish' too, planes and tools and sports! And where my mom bought tiny baby beanies, Becky bought little baseball caps. Of course all of it is totally cute and I had to buy Dreft so I can wash and hang it all up.
Speaking of putting clothes away, we also got our nursery furniture! Oh my gosh, what a load off. It won't actually be here until later this summer, but it's just beautiful and exactly what I wanted. For anyone shopping for slightly higher end but still reasonable furniture. www.usababy.com is a great chain of stores. The customer service was phenomenal and the furniture we bought is solid wood. Thank you Papa James for the crib and mattress! It's the Baby's Dream Infinity stationary crib in Amber finish. We also got the tall 5-drawer dreser and the combo changer/dresser (we didn't get the hutch but we might someday). http://www.babysdream.com/Service/OnlineBroch/pdf/Infinity.pdf
On Thursday I had my first set of Braxton Hicks contractions which was sort of exciting. They felt like mild menstrual cramps and came and went a few times throughout the day. I haven't had any more, but my body is clearly getting ready for the inevitable end (or should I say new beginning) of this crazy journey!
PeaBaby was also much more his usual rambunctious self, and he's getting so strong! Strong enough that when he really pushes it can be uncomfortable and an unexpected kick is quite surprising. Grammy Tina and Papa James had a great time playing with him, talking to him, and reading him his new books. While it was amazing and fun and I'm so grateful that they were here, I can't help but be really heartsick at the fact that visits are all we will have, and too brief and infrequent at that. I really wish we could live near them during this pregnancy but more importantly after he's born. I can't believe he won't get to spend the weekend at grammy's whenever he wants. Being far from home is hard for me, but having my baby be far from home is much, much worse. We'll just have to take tons of pictures and make the most of every precious moment we have together, and that's what we'll do!
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