Full Term! YAHOOO!!

WOW! I seriously cannot believe I am full term. I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve last night - I kept dreaming about being full-term, and I woke up at 4:00 and could not fall back to sleep because I was excited. It hasn't settled-in that this baby could come so soon - I am not ready to leave work, the house is a mess, the nursery isn't done, the car seat isn't installed...ack!

The sucky part is that Greg has been swamped at work lately, (he's already put in 40 hours this week), which means he has been so stressed that he hasn't been sleeping well and has no time to help get ready for the baby, and he's been a bit grouchy. Not exactly how I wanted to spend our last few weeks alone :( He keeps saying that he can't wait until the baby gets here so he can have a vacation from work!

I had an OB appointment yesterday, and I have started to dilate (woot!) - I was at 1 cm. And, I didn't gain any weight this week (double woot!). I did test positive for group B strep, which means antibiotics during labor, but it shouldn't be a big deal. The swelling has started to affect my hands - my knuckles are sore and I get some tingling in them - but my blood pressure is still good.

That's all I have for now. I'm hoping I can get to work early so I can leave early and take a nap!

Good News Thursday!

Several things:

• (TMI warning) I had a pre-natal appointment with a lactation consultant. I made the appointment after I learned about the "pinch test" in our breastfeeding class a few weeks ago. The instructor said that, even if your nipples look normal, they may be flat or inverted and it could cause problems with nursing, and a simple the pinch test can reveal this. I thought things looked questionable when I tried the test on myself, and today the lactation consultant confirmed that I have slightly inverted nipples and said it could create problems when my milk comes in. Luckily, there is something I can do about it - I have to wear these shells "a few hours a day" until the baby is born, (although, when I asked what she meant by "a few hours", she said 5-6 hours :/), and they only cost $13. The prenatal visit did cost another $45 on top of that, but I think it is worth eliminating this potential headache.

• I had my 36 week OB appointment, which included another internal exam. My cervix is still closed, which I know doesn't mean much right now. The exciting news is that, when I talked to her about being induced earlier than normal because of my CF, she spoke with my high risk OB and got the okay to let me go as long as a "normal person" because last week's PFTs were so great! WHOOHOOO!

• I told my manager that I wasn't planning to come back to work after the baby is born. This was important to me because I didn't want to hold the position and office space and put strain on my employer for no reason. And I told him exactly that. My manager thanked me for thinking of them and said they were ready to take on my workload and that they will be fine. He also said he really wants me to take my maternity leave because I've "earned it" and he thinks I should wait until I actually have a baby to make a final decision. He even briefly mentioned the possibility of working part-time. I am still in shock!

• I never mentioned that I got summoned to jury duty a few weeks ago. First time ever. I was like, "Are you freaking kidding me?" and I reeaaalllly did not want to go because I need to get stuff done at work, but I didn't feel justified in getting a doctor's note if it there was a chance it might only be for an afternoon. Anywho, I got an email today that my trial was canceled and that my jury duty is now complete. Woot!
  

OUCH!

Holy freaking leg cramp! I woke up this morning with the worst leg cramp ever! It was so strong that I couldn't flex my foot at all, and I was withering in pain and yelling for Greg, (I wanted him to flex my foot for me). Of course, he was in the shower on the other side of the house, so he didn't hear me. I managed to twist my body so I could press my foot against the wall and it eventually went away, although my leg is still a little tender.

So this is what they were talking about in our childbirth class :P

35w0d Clinic Visit

Last Thursday's clinic visit went well. My FEVs have not changed, and my weight gain is more than enough - I don't think I need to gain anymore! My last sputum culture showed normal flora again, which I always like to hear.

Here are my stats at 35 weeks:

Weight gain: 35 pounds
FEV1: 115% (Up 5% from last visit and 3% from pre-pregnancy)

I also had my work shower on Thursday. Everyone in my office was super sweet! They made a ton of good food, decorated the conference room, and people wrote really sweet words of wisdom and hung them on a tree. We got a swing (awesome!) and some essential items like diapers and baby wash and clothes.

Now we really are in the home stretch! There is still so much to do before Baby Girl arrives. I know the world will not end if we do not get it all done, but I am anal like that and really want to have her nursery all set up, errands out of the way, thank you notes complete, and the house clean. I also have a ton of stuff to do at work before I leave, and I really don't think I am going to get it all done, which sucks because I know people are counting on me. Things are taking me longer than I anticipated (not because of pregnancy), and I have had less time to work because I'm so tired and have so many doctor's appointments. It also doesn't help that I got summoned to jury duty for next week :P I just keep telling myself, "Oh well, I am doing what I can," so I don't stress out about it.

And, to end this post, here is a picture from my work shower:

35/35!

I can't believe I am 35 weeks! I'm getting excited for the big day :D

Today I have my work shower and a CF clinic visit, so I will write more later.

My Dogs are Barking

My feet are KILLING ME! This is one pregnancy side effect I was completely unaware of. The simple act of running errands on the weekends leaves me feeling like I just ran five miles. Last night they were so sore I kept taking breaks from housework and they still felt really tender when I got up this morning. Even my knees are sore. I guess I'm lucky to have a desk job!

Speaking of running, I never mentioned that, after the pre-term labor scare at 29 weeks, my OB said I should cut back on the cardio because I was having contractions at the end of my workouts. So, now I am down to walking and my prenatal video. I try to walk for 30 minutes to an hour 2-3 times a week, and I do the video twice a week. This doesn't sound like much to me, but I don't have that "jelly ass" feeling I usually get when I don't workout, so I guess it's doing something to keep me in some-sort of shape. Perhaps carrying around an extra 30 pounds is a workout in itself? It will be interesting to see how difficult it will be to run a mile in a few months!

Other than sore feet, the other pregnancy symptom I've been really battling is insomnia. At least one out of every two nights, I wake up at about 5:30 AM and am unable to go back to sleep. Considering I go to bed at 10:00 and wake up twice to pee before I wake up a third time at 5:30, I’m not getting enough sleep. I called in sick last Wednesday because I felt like a walking zombie. Thankfully, I slept well the last two nights and feel so.much.better.

The only other pregnancy symptoms I’ve been experiencing is a raging appetite, the continuation of heartburn (I just opened fourth Costco bottle of Tums since being pregnant), and water retention, (I took off my rings at 30 weeks, and I have the worst sock marks on my legs at the end of the day. Even my watch leaves a mark!). People have started asking me if I am "just ready to have this baby" and I am happy to say that, although I can't wait to meet her, I am perfectly okay with dealing with these pregnancy woes for a bit longer – as much as I just complained, it hasn't gotten that bad, yet. But I may have a different response in a few weeks!

34w0d High Risk and Regular OB Appointments

I had both a high risk and regular OB visit today. Everything is still looking great. Baby Girl was still measuring right at average (53 percentile) and her weight estimate was 5lbs 6oz. (BTW, my OB said these estimates can be off by as much as 20% and get less accurate as you get further along, but the fact that we have consistently been in the 50% percentile gives them a good idea that we will be having an average-sized baby.) My weight and blood pressure look good. And, as of today, my OB will not stop things if I go into labor. Yikes!

It was a super fun u/s. Baby Girl had the hiccups and was kicking her feet a ton (the u/s tech said it looked liked she was dancing), and she even got mad and started flailing her fists when the u/s tech was poking her. The funniest part was when she kept trying to put her hand in her mouth - she would raise her hand up to her mouth and try to reach it with her tongue, which meant she kept sticking in tongue waaaaaay out, past her chin. The u/s tech and I were cracking up and decided she may be a contender to be next member of Kiss. The u/s tech also pointed out that she has a lot of hair.

We finally got some great 3D ultrasound pictures too! The past three visits she has had something in front of her face (her hands, the umbilical cord, or she has squished her face into the placenta), but today she wasn't shy.

Sticking Out Her Tongue

3D Image of the Tongue

I know a lot of people think 3D u/s pictures are creepy, but I just can't get over how cute she is :D

33 Week Bump

Here's what 30 pounds of baby weight looks like on me: