and the beat goes on

Today is one week exactly from our due date. My predicted date of March 27 has come and gone and then some, but Travis's April 1 guess on Thursday is still up for grabs. Grandma Kershaw is done with all her crazy travels, Grandma Adams isn't out of town for meetings anymore, and I am done with school for a couple of months, so I am officially giving her the green light to come greet the world. Which of course means nothing has happened :).

I have experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing that convinced me that I was in actual labor. Last night was the first time they actually hurt and weren't just breath-stoppingly uncomfortable, but still nothing that fits the description of actual labor pains.

We visited Dr. Maurus this morning for our 39 week check up. According to him, the majority of his patients deliver in the 39th week and "the rest" usually go the week after, so here's hoping we are in group A (or even group B, as long as we aren't in group C, the week after that!) The best part of the whole visit was when Barb was listening for the baby's heartbeat. The last couple of times they have put the little device up to my belly, she has shown some protest, but today she started kicking that little machine hard enough for the whole room to see, giving all of us a good laugh. Her heart rate went up a little when she did that, and Barb said that was a very good sign of health. I had also gained one of the three pounds I lost last week back, bringing my total to 19 pounds so far.

So now with work done for the next 8 weeks or so, it really is a matter of sitting and waiting. Here's to hoping my patience holds up :)

the waiting game begins

I finally remembered to ask Travis to take a belly picture just before I got into bed last night. So, this is us at 38 weeks, 4 days along!

I definitely feel like I'm playing the waiting game these last few days. Tuesday night I had some mild Braxton-Hicks contractions that lasted about a minute and a half and stayed about 10 minutes apart for a couple of hours, and then they tapered off. Earlier that night I was feeling the best I had in weeks, so I took advantage of the situation by freezing some meals and getting some house chores done. Yesterday and today have just felt like time is draaaaaaaging on so very slowly. I am SO glad tomorrow is my last day at school because I can't keep up the energy much longer.

Then tonight when I got home from school I sat down and just got an overwhelming premonition that things were going to set into motion very soon. I immediately began to organize and make a couple phone calls. Since then the feeling has slightly subsided, but I still wouldn't be surprised if I ended up at the hospital in the next 24 hours. I hope for Gramma Kershaw's sake that's not the case, but I also know that if she's made up her mind there isn't a thing we can do to stop her!

38 week check up

We saw Dr. Maurus tonight for hopefully one of our last weekly check ups. We found out I have lost 3 pounds since last week, which is listed in several things I have read as a sign that labor may be coming soon. My BP was good, the baby's heart rate was a strong 150 bpm (and she was kicking away at that monitor, making me laugh. she really is a fiery little one).

This time when he measured me he said she was "the perfect size" -- although he didn't tell us what that perfect size was -- and still head down in the correct position. He also informed us, as I suspected might be the case, he doesn't routinely check to see if his patients are dilated because, as he put it, "It doesn't really change anything, and it's quite uncomfortable for most women." So, we shall wait until contractions start or she's overdue to find out if we are dilated at all yet :). It's probably for the best anyway, knowing me!

Only 3 more days of school!

Ding goes the oven

Today the baby is officially full-term, and to celebrate she has been extra-difficult all day. I have been trying to keep myself busy running errands and doing some last minute things so I don't spend my time sitting and waiting, but I have been forced to slow down the last couple of days because she has been pressing against some of my nerves and making it very difficult to walk, get dressed, lean in any direction, etc. Needless to say it made the school day extra long today, and I am now just hoping to get through the next four days relatively pain-free.

Things seem pretty ready around here. Our hospital suitcase is packed, the car seat is in the car, diapers are stocked up, a nice amount of clothes are washed and ready to go, I'm going to make and freeze a couple more meals tonight, and we've even started putting things together we may not need for a while like the stroller, bouncy seat, and the exersaucer because we have the time now and why not?

Saturday Travis and I took advantage of one of our last free days together to see Avatar in 3D and go out to dinner. We also got a few more things for the nesting mother in me (I thought we needed just one more pack of size 1 diapers, just in case the baby turns out to be massive) and we found the perfect onesie for visiting Uncle Tony when the time comes. But it was fun to get out of the house together, even if it was in the snow, and the baby very much enjoyed the movie (or maybe the movie theatre popcorn? haha) because she was kicking through the whole thing.

I'm very anxious to go see the doctor tomorrow. As unpleasant as I know it is, I really hope he decides to check to see if I'm dilated at all, although since it's our first one he may wait another week to check.

Travis just got word today that his schedule is changing back to Monday-Friday from 2-11 next week, so Gramma Kershaw: I am officially cool with her coming on Sunday now :). We shall wait and see! I'll update again after we see Dr. Maurus tomorrow and let you all know what he says!

"Well, she won't be a SMALL baby..."

That's how he phrased it this afternoon at the appointment. He did make me feel slightly better by saying he didn't think she would be a 10 pound baby, but said she would most likely be larger than average and "certainly not small." My optimistic viewpoint? That just means it's a much higher likelihood that she will be a healthy, happy baby. She is still locked and loaded, as I like to call it, head down in the right position. My Strep B test can back negative, so no worries there. Blood pressure was good, fetal heartbeat was good, and my weight hadn't changed since last week.

Yesterday was my family and friend's shower for the baby. We got lots of cute things -- outfits, bottles, booties, blankets, baby swings, car accessories (backseat mirror, window shade, etc.), health and grooming kits, and lots more that I know I am forgetting! We have just about everything we need now, but mom and I are going to go pick up some of the registry items we don't have yet that we need tomorrow night before Travis and I head off to our final class: breastfeeding.

As far as baby development goes, a week from today she will be considered full term. Everything is for the most part set to go. It's now just a waiting game. However, if she were average weight at this point (which is still possible, right?) she would be about 6.5 pounds, the weight of our smaller cat Gizmo.



I can't complain too much about how I've been feeling. I have been getting tired more easily lately, so I've just been taking it pretty easy. However, I have been getting a bit of that nesting itch, as I have been cleaning closets and cupboards without really having even noticed I've started it, and Saturday I convinced Travis to help me tackle the garage, which hadn't been cleaned since we moved in.

I only have 9 more days of work until it's baby time -- and only 8 days of lesson plans, as Friday is a Teacher Institute Day. Time sure is flying by!

Oh and one more thing...

... I forgot to mention. The last two appointments in a row now have shown that the baby is measuring "slightly above average." They assure us it's just a slightly higher fundal height, but judging by the look on Barb's face when she read the tape measure I think they MAY be using a bit of that medical etiquette there. So, we may be having a ten pounder. We shall see :)

Infant care class and 36 week check up

Last night was our infant care class. It was nice, first of all, because Travis got to switch for a day shift to go so we got to spend the night together. The class was pretty informative and I'm glad we went, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be. It was more about the hospital's procedures during labor and during your two day stay there than it was about taking care of the baby once you leave, but I suppose that's okay because as everyone keeps reminding us, you can't really teach someone how to be a parent. Next week is the breastfeeding class, so I'm really looking forward to that because I know next to nothing about the entire process.

Then today after school we went in for our 36 week meeting and strep B test with Barb. She went over more information for how to know when we were really in labor, what to do, etc. Most of it was stuff we learned in the birthing class, but since that ended a month or two ago it was nice to kind of get a refresher. My weight gain is now at about 21 pounds.

Monday night was my first night of bad sleep, aside from the two nights where I've been up sick all night. I had a mixture of terrible heartburn, indigestion, muscle soreness, and perhaps a few Braxton Hicks contractions. So Tuesday was officially a "coffee-worthy" day at school and let me tell ya, one cup and I was a totally new person. I can't wait until it's back into my life on a regular basis :)

Other than that, we're just trucking right along and playing the countdown game!