Sunshine on a Rainy Day- Austin's Birth Story

The world gained a bit of sunshine...

My heart is happy, happy, happy.

Here is how we got there:

And yes, this will give details... that's what happens when you give birth. Your body does things and words like dilation, cervix, and va-jay-jay sometimes must be used. You have been warned.

I was scheduled to be induced on Tuesday, 1/24 at 7am. Since I was 38 weeks and only 1cm dilated, my Dr. wanted me to be admitted Monday night, 1/23 at 10pm to get settled in a get a balloon like thingy (no idea what it was actually called) inserted in my cervix overnight to help me dilate.

We get to the hospital and I'm surprisingly calm, I have no idea how I pulled that off, since I'm usually a bundle of nerves!

Checked in, gown on, on-call Dr. that night came in, checked me, inserted balloon thingy, I got a pain pill and an Ambien and was told to sleep.

Somehow I pulled that off too and got a solid 6 hours in.

Up and at 'em early on Tuesday! The same on-call Dr. and my nurse came in at 5:45 am to check me. To all of our surprise, I had dilated more than the 3cm they had wanted me to! Go cervix! Since I was 3cm+, the Dr. decided to break my water right then, instead of waiting several hours, which is what I was expecting.

Ok, so far..not so bad. Even the water breaking didn't hurt, and since I was so dilated they held off on giving me Pitocin and decided to let my body just do it's thing for a few hours.

Do dee doo... this wasn't so bad. Read some blogs, texted some people, watched some TV.... Ok... contraction! Breathe in..... breathe out.. focus on thing on the wall.. ok... ok.. ok..

Ah. Relax.

This went on for a few hours and then a lovely thing called Pitocin was injected into my veins around 10am.

This is when the shit hit the fan.

I did my best to breathe in slow and exhale slow and all that jazz like the nurse said, but OH HOLY BUCKETS those contractions were getting stronger! I spent an hour laying, sitting, crying, sobbing, gripping Neal, holding Neal, pounding my fist on the bed, moving my legs, kicking my legs, and groaning.. trying to figure out if I was being a wuss and this was nothing... or if I was at the point that I needed help.

Once my contractions were about 1 minute apart and I really had no relief from the pain and I was yet again sobbing, I decided it was time to ask for an epidural.

I was 5cm dilated at this point.

Now, if you remember... I was TERRIFIED BEYOND TERRIFIED of a needle going into my back. I was (somewhat) hoping that I would be in so much pain I wouldn't care if they had to take my left eyeball out to make it go away.. and this "hope" came true.

GIVE ME DRUGS, I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU INJECT THEM I AM ABOUT TO PUKE FROM THE PAIN.

So the anethesiologist did his thing, I held onto Neal and sobbed as I got my epidural.. apologizing the whole time for being a "wuss." By the end of the day Neal was sick of my apologies. What can I say? I'm polite. I apologized for moaning and crying. I apologized for needing help to the bathroom. I apologized for needing a pillow. I was for sure convinced I was the most annoying patient ever.

Pain makes me loopy, apparently.

Anyways, the epidural kicked in and I had about 30 mins of relief, and (thank you Lord!) I could still somewhat wiggle my toes and move my legs. I was not, as I irrationally feared for months, paralyzed by the epidural.

My relief was short-lived when I started to have intense pain just in my right side again with each contraction. My epidural wasn't hitting that spot, so received a bolster shot of pain medicine, and was rolled onto my other side to let gravity flow it into my right side.

Checked again at this point, and I was almost 7cm. I also got my catheter at this point (lovely little thing those are... ugh) and finally felt no pain! I snoozed and relaxed for close to an hour when Neal walked back into the room, looked at the machine and said "whoa. You are having some strong contractions!"

Right at that VERY second, I started feeling pain again... but this time it was very low down in my lady parts, and in my lower back. Ow. Ow. Ow. OW. OW. MOTHER F-ER!!!!!

The nurse decided to check me again before giving my another pain medication bolster and low and behold, stated "holy cow, you have NO cervix girl! His head is really low. It's time to push."

Yep, me and my over-achiever cervix had dilated over 4cm in less than an hour!

It was "go" time.

Anesthesiologist came back in to give me a super strong dose of medicine to get me through the pushing. The nurse told him to make it last for 2 hours, since I shouldn't have to push longer than that.

This is the part I hate. The man made me 100%, totally, completely, my head-does-not-realize-I-have-legs-paralyzed-numb.

As much as it was nice to not feel pain, I did NOT like this feeling, or having to be pulling and thrown around the bed by the nurse and Neal, trying to get me in the stirrups to push.

Trying to fight the urge to try and wiggle my toes only to find out time and time again that I could not will them to move, it was time to push this kid out of me.

The nurse told me when each contraction was coming and had me push for three counts of ten for each contraction. That's a lot of pushing with very little break in between, in case you were wondering.

Thankfully Bambino cooperated and since he was so low down, he crowned after about 30 mins of pushing.

Neal was in awe, standing behind me watching him slowly come further and further down the birth canal, and the nurse told me he had "a ton of hair!" which made all that damn heartburn worth it! My baby was going to have cute baby hair!

At this point the nurse paged my Dr... and we waited and pushed, and waited and pushed.. and finally Dr. B came running (literally, and out of breath) into the room, looked between my legs, said "Oh my god!" and immediately started scrubbing up.

This kid was READY!!!

So Neal, the nurse and Dr. B were excellent cheerleaders and kept me pushing... and low and behold.. what is this???? Pain??? OH GOD THE PAIN WAS COMING BACK! AND I COULD FEEL MY LEGS!!!! I COULD FEEL EVERYTHING!!!

Epidural was wearing off AGAIN!!!!. The way Bambino was inside me also gave my back labor, which I decided hurts slightly less than say.. getting disemboweled or burned alive... and I was DYING.

Screw all decency, I started screaming with every push. I was like those sweaty, screaming, hair tangled women you see give birth in the movies. And to think I actually brought a hair straightener and makeup to the hospital... thinking it would be great to look "nice". Hardy har har.

After every push I'd lay back down and be in so much pain in my back I'd scream some more, writhe around, and pound the bed with my fist.

I remember yelling "someone help my back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" at one point. I mean seriously, help a girl out!!!

The nurse started rubbing my lower back between contractions, and they called in the anthesiologist (I kept that man busy!) to bolster me again, and the minute he came in, Dr. B said "hold it! hold it! hold it!" and told me to give it everything I had, push the pain out of my back... and push.......

Then he grabbed my hands and told me to help bring my baby into the world.

I grabbed Bambino under his arms and help bring him out of my body onto my chest... and an explosion of sobbing came out of me like nothing I've ever experienced before.

Sobbing with 20% pure joy at meeting my baby, and 80% relief that I didn't have to push anymore, thank the Lord!!

I can't describe the following minutes, because there really are no words for what rushes through your mind and your heart as you hold your baby to your chest, but I can say it's a feeling I will never ever forget in my life, and one that will never, ever be able to be topped by anything.

What happened next was a blur... Neal cut Bambino's cord....

I got stitched up... (third-degree tears, thank you very much Bambino! Thank goodness my Dr. is a also a top surgeon!!)

And little dude got weighed, measured, and checked out.

7lbs, 12oz.
21" long
Pink, healthy and grunting like crazy!
This little guy came into the world with a lot to say about things!!

It was all worth it though... every pain, every poke with a needle, every spasm in my back.. I mean just look at him!!!

 Neal and I created life. Beautiful, perfect, fragile life. I could stare at his little face for hours and never get tired of the consuming love I feel for this little dude.

He is all the sunshine I will ever need.

The Final Countdown

I thought for posterity's sake I'd jot down some final thoughts on pregnancy, now that I'm days away from actually having a baby- that's right, I'm being induced at 38 weeks!

We're done! All the bigger you're gonna get, buddy! And Henry, stop being a creeper. Seriously.

So anyway... I give you... my Final Thoughts-

-Being pregnant will make you realize you are one of two types of women. You are either an "Earth Mother" type who embraces your growing belly and actually feels sexier, empowered and more gorgeous the bigger you get.... or you realize you are vainer than what you thought and struggle with getting bigger and keeping a feeling of attractiveness. I am of the latter.

-I have a new found compassion for the elderly. Between hip pain, joint pain, the inability to get up from a sitting position quickly or gracefully, and my recent hand joint pain.... I really feel for the older folks. They are right- they really SHOULD think of a better way to open jars and bottles! Those damn lids are impossible to twist off...

Adios, cankles.. you will not be missed!!!

-Nothing in life is totally predictable, or can be planned for. And that's ok. And you need to learn to let go.

-You have to take pregnancy with a grain of salt. You're going to be told you are huge, you are going to feel huge, you are going to look huge. And that's just part of it. Your body is not your own, and you fart when you can't help it, you cry when you can't help it, you fly off the handle over the smallest things. Your skin does weird things, you can't put your own socks on, and you fall over trying to put on pants. You have to be able to laugh at yourself, and all the absurd things that go on every day.

-I am completely addicted to laying and sleeping on my stomach and I didn't realize that until it was forbidden.

-Pregnancy is one of the most interesting, difficult and crazy experiences a woman can go through. Some days you are terrified... convinced that something is going wrong, or something will be wrong, or that your child will not be born healthy and you cry and obsess and worry. Some days are joyous and full of laughing at the hiccups happening inside you, or the sudden freak-out movement when your baby is startled by a loud noise. Every day is different... and simultaneously difficult and joyous.

Never has seeing something the size of a raspberry filled you with more anxiety and awe...

-Temptation sucks! I found myself constantly craving foods I couldn't have. I don't like sandwiches that much. Or hot dogs. But damn it! I wanted a flipping turkey sandwich almost everyday I was pregnant. And those Sonic commercials for hot dogs? Kill me now, please!!! And let's not even mention how bad I wanted to chug down a beer.

But did I mention the built-in shelf kinda rocks???

-I confirmed the fact that I do not like much attention. Note to anyone who hates being paid attention to- don't get pregnant!!! All the stares, comments, baby showers.. it's a lot of attention directly right on you. It's all good intentions and I'm not trying to sound bitchy because my heart burst with all the love and support poured our way.. but I'll just say I am looking forward to Bambino's arrival so everyone will gush over him and ignore the Momma sitting happily (ignored) in the corner!!!

-No pregnancy is the same, or without it's own story... My story started off smoothly... we got pregnant quickly (still so incredibly boggled and grateful for that) and I hardly had any symptoms or moments where I was uncomfortable. Then I hit my 3rd Trimester and I became Complications City. My days and weeks became filled with painful, swollen ankles I could barely walk on, arthritic-like swollen hands, extra blood draws at the Dr. to run tests, peeing in a large jug, worrying Bambino wasn't getting the blood he needed in his placenta, getting strapped to fetal heart monitors all the time and watching, watching, watching....hoping his heart rate was what it was supposed to be... and coming to terms with an early induction and whatever complications that may bring about. That's life though.. and you know what? The things that are worth having are worth fighting for... no matter what form that fighting happens to come in. 

Well that's it folks! I'm done... being induced and about to go from Jessica to Mom in a matter of days... Thank you for letting me share my pregnancy stories and joys and rants!

Next up to bat in our New Ballgame... the Great Bambino!!!

Hey- Let Go Sometimes!

I was going to do a whole post about my Resolutions for 2012.

You know, the laundry list of:
-Exercise
-Save money
-Be a better at budgeting

But then, as Neal and I were having a heart-to-heart the other night, I realized there was just one major thing I needed to work on this year. And with Bambino arriving and becoming a family... this was the most important thing I could possibly do.

I need to learn to Let Go.

I use that phrase loosely, because I'm not speaking of letting go of anything in the physical sense, or even in the emotional sense.

It's more of a "learn to relax and just live in the moment" type of letting go.

Let me give you an example of the type of person I am:

It's Saturday. The house is pretty messy. I'm awake at 7am, if not earlier.... and while Neal snoozes and sleeps in, I'm up and about and downstairs because there is too much to do!

Coffee
Dishes
Unload dishwasher
Load dishwasher
Eat
Pick up glasses, dishes, etc from living room
Crap. The stove is a disaster! Take off burners. Spray down stove.
Haul stuff upstairs to be put away.
Laundry in.
Clothes picked up and re-hung in the closet...

Must I go on.. or do you get my point?

This kind of manic cleaning would be fine, if it was a designated "let's clean the house day!" But this is my reality every weekend day of every weekend... and most week nights too.

I find it impossible to sleep in and relax... and spend a day lounging in bed doing nothing? HEART ATTACK!!! I'd go berserk laying there and thinking about all the picking up and organizing I could be doing.

Here's the thing I finally realized though. I robotically clean and pick up every single day... yet what kind of satisfaction am I getting out of it? I get none.

Would there be any harm in just letting the crap sit around once and awhile? Would the world stop turning? Would the very foundation of my life crumble down? Would the winner of The Bachelor finally stay engaged to him?

I think not.

With a baby coming... life is going to be messy. There is going to be toys, laundry, dishes, bottles, spit-up and who knows what else scattered around the house.

But most importantly, there are going to be moments, and laughing, and cuddling, and kissing, and playing.

Do I really think I'm going to be on my death bed one day... wishing I had spent more time organizing and then re-organizing the linen closet? Or making sure every single item was always picked up and the house was continuously spotless?

Letting go for me is going to be hard. I am wired to feel safest and most calm in a clean, non-cluttered space... but more and more lately; I just obsess over the picking up and the organizing and the cleaning and I sacrifice time I could be *gasp!* enjoying myself or relaxing.

Neal has tried and tried to tell me to relax and put my swollen feet up... but no! Off and about I go- upstairs, downstairs, gutting the pantry to re-organize it better... or some other silly little task.

But not anymore.

Usher in the new Jessica.

Jessica version 2012.

The Mom.

The one who will always be up for playing and cuddling and quality time.

The dishes in the sink be damned.

Maybe we can build a fort with them....

The End of the Road

Back when I was in my early trimesters I couldn't wait to be done being pregnant.

I'm not the most patient person in the world, and I wanted this big life change of having a baby to just hurry up and get started already!

Well... we are now at the end of this pregnancy. And guess what? I don't feel ready.

I mean, I'm-sobbing-to-Neal kind of "I don't feel ready."

You are probably thinking "don't despair little preggo! You are only 36 weeks pregnant, and most babies are late... so you have time!"

<insert buzzer sound>

Wrong answer.

Welcome to my journey of 3rd Trimester complications.

At my Dr. appt yesterday I waddle in... wait... get called back... waddle to the bathroom... give them the urine sample I have to give them every time... and as I'm finishing up in the bathroom I overhear my nurse and my Dr. talking about "traces of protein."

Shit. Again?

I had protein in my urine last week, which concerned my Dr. since I am also having high blood pressure.

So I waddle into the examine room with the nurse, get weighed.... and see I've gained 5 pounds just from last week.

I actually don't freak out about this because in the last few days I have started swelling again so horribly that even my compression socks do nothing to ease the swelling and aching in my feet and ankles.

Then I get my blood pressure taken. Usually my nurse tells me what it is... but this time, she was silent.

Not good.

So the Dr. comes in and immediately just looks concerned. He's a normally jolly fellow, but the first words out of his mouth are "how are you FEELING???"

Well, I tell him about how my legs are those of an elephant again, my ankles are so stiff it's hard to walk, my hands have swollen up a lot and are stiff and achy like I have arthritis... and I had a flashing light in my right eye on Monday.. should I be concerned about all these things?

He paused. And then said... "I think you are getting the disease"

That would be Dr.-speak for pre-eclempsia.

Which is high blood pressure caused by pregnancy... but it can turn very dangerous for me (strokes, blood clots, kidney failure, even death) and dangerous for Bambino (cut-off blood supply to him) very quickly.

So this is where I started to cry the first time. I felt like a failure. Like I had done something wrong, or that I had given myself this complication. How could this have happened? I'm really healthy... I normally have very low blood pressure.. I had a smooth and easy 1st and 2nd trimester...

My poor Dr. was rubbing my back saying I was not a failure, and that I've been a great pregnant lady and done everything I could have done, and that this just happens, and they have no idea why it happens to some women and not others.

So we proceed with listening to the heartbeat and him feeling Bambino.. and I try to lighten the mood by asking "so...how big do you think he'll be? I've told him he can't get bigger than 8 1/2 pounds because that is all I'm pushing out of my body!" and I half-heartedly laugh.

The Dr. just responds with "you aren't going to make it to your due date."

Shit again!

Yep. That's right... It's the end of the road for me... my blood pressure had sky-rocketed from last week (going up over 20 points) and all my other symptoms have him concerned.

I am having other labs run to confirm- I had to have my blood drawn yesterday, and I was sent home with a huge milk-gallon sized jug and instructions to stay home from work so I could capture every bit of urine that comes out of my body for the next 24 hours.

Did I gross you out? Sorry.. I'm just stating the facts here... blame modern medicine and their 2 gallon pee-jugs.

So we have two options ahead of us, based on my lab results- I either A) have pre-eclempsia, or I have B) the somewhat less severe gestational hypertension.

Option A means they will want this baby out of me now. As in, I would go check into the hospital on SUNDAY.. yes... as in 3 DAYS FROM NOW to be induced.

Option B means he'd let me go maybe one more week and still induce me.

Either way- I'm being induced at least 2 weeks before my due date.

Cue the second round of crying in the Dr's office.

Well, there goes my hopes for a natural birth.. or a medication-free birth.. because there is no way you can handle being forced into labor, have your water broken for you, and all that without an epidural. Maybe some super woman out there somewhere has accomplished this, but heck if I've ever heard of anyone getting through an induction without drugs.

Needless to say...I'm emotional. I of course am willing to do whatever I have to in order to bring this baby into the world healthy and safe... but this is not how I wanted things to end for me. I wanted to know what it was like to go into labor, to feel all those things... to wake your husband up in the middle of the night and go "I think it's time!!!"

We also had plans with some friends next weekend for a last "let's hang out before the baby" type get-together.. and Neal and I were going to go on one last "just the two of us" spectacular date. Now neither will get to happen.

As much as I'm a planner and a scheduler and I like to know what is going to happen.. I really wanted nature to take it's course when I went into labor and to just let things happen. Now it's totally out of my control and my body is going to be forced into this crazy process.

I knew the end was inevitable.. I mean, the baby couldn't stay inside me forever... but now that the end is here, like really, really here... and not ending in the most healthy or desired way... I'm officially freaked out.

So please wish me luck, and send good thoughts and energy my way.. I may be absent from writing for awhile... because I may be having myself a baby this weekend. Ack!

A Room Fit for a Champ...

Or at least, fit for a baby!

Bambino's room is finally complete and I'm excited to share it!

The room didn't start out so cute though.. full of junk, our lone baby item (a swing) and several paint swatch colors painted on the wall...

We wanted to go with Chicago Cubs colors (I'll give you one guess to who the die-hard Cubbies fan is in our household, and it's not Henry).. So we searched for the perfect royal blue color to paint the bottom half of the wall.

Success finally came and painting began...

I really wanted a chair rail in the room and since you have to give pregnant women what they want, we put one in! Much to Neal's delight, the trim was a bitch and a half to install and required 3 trips to Home Depot, 2 different types of glue, a nail gun, an air compressor and the Expectant Grandpa (aka- My Dad for those who don't recognize him) to successfully get the trim on:

My parents were totally awesome (like usual) and purchased our crib for us. So that meant an exciting Saturday night of playing "figure out the crib assembly."

At least Neal got to have a beer to ease the confusion...

Window coverings came next, and were easy to put up thanks to Ikea's handy "follow the picture" assembly instructions. Henry even helped. Well, helped eat our snack, at least...

Then we were on to final touches! yeah!!! Home stretch.. and the part I was most excited about.

So without further ado, here is Bambino's completed room!

For those of you who don't know, Bambino's real name is Austin!

We've chosen this as his going-home-from-the-hospital outfit!

My hand-made name sign. Only 2 months worth of time and 14 glue sticks were harmed in the making of it.

Special baby treasures- handmade booties, and Neal's first ball from when he was a baby

My Duck friends are screaming right now.. but look! I snuck in one little "O" bootie!!

Chicago lovin'

Repainted dresser

His "vintage" shelf- old memorabilia of Neal's and of course a Sophie!

How it all started....

Full room view

Ready for life's little adventures!

A reminder as to who loves him most... and Go Cubs Go! 

The Fur Children vs. The Bambino

There is about to be a new baby around these parts.

And he ain’t of the furry 4-legged variety…

Our two trouble-makers are going to have to move over and give up some of the affection and attention they are used to and accept little Bambino into our family.

I’m not worried about Olive accepting Bambino.. she’s always been a really independent cat. She likes her space…. And while she’ll come to you for a cuddle once and awhile, she’s not much for human contact. She HATES to be picked up and held (Neal is the only one who can do this, and only for a few minutes) and she isn’t the type of cat that sleeps with us at night. She prefers the luxury and amenities of her “condo” (aka my side of the closet amongst my clothes) to anything else.

Note to self: buy stock in lint sticky rollers...

As long as someone with opposable thumbs is around to fill her food bowl and let her outside when she wants to go explore, she’s a happy camper. We could be replaced by a robot for all she cares.  

Henry, on the other hand… well…. he’s a bit selfish.

And an attention whore.

And spoiled.

And needy. 

If I put my butt on your head.. will you pay attention to me?

And hopelessly attached to Neal.

Don’t get me wrong… we do not have a yappy yippy “I-kinda-want-to-kick-you-right-now” ankle biter of a dog. He’s actually very calm, very chill, never yips and has the best personality out of any little dog I’ve known. (ok, slight bias…)

He’s just a total baby. And he knows he is the baby of our family.

We’ve already had some trouble in the past with him being jealous of the cat and using his tiny wee-wee to go pee-pee on or near her things.

He’s house-trained, so these little sprays are definitely of the “oh yeah? take THAT you f-ing cat! Hahaha!” variety.

So….. this ain’t happnin’ when Bambino arrives. I’m going to be drained and stressed enough without having to worry about whether or not the dog is defiantly peeing on the baby’s things or in the doorway to his room.

Enter the genius of Cesar Milan, dog whisperer!!!

I read his article on how to socialize dogs and babies, in hopes that if we follow all his tips, Henry will come to accept Bambino as another “pack leader” and leave his urge to mark his territory outside on the neighbor’s bushes.

Here are a few quick highlights from the article:

-Establish control. Make sure the dog knows you are the pack leader, and he is the one who needs to obey.

-Make sure the baby’s room is an area that the dog is allowed in only when you give him permission. Let him sniff and explore the room, but only when you are in there as well. This will help the dog respect the baby’s area.

-Walk your dog before introducing him to the baby… get all his energy out so he is calm.

-Bring home something that smells like the baby so the dog can sniff it before he even meets the baby.

-Introduce the baby in a calm but assertive manner, so the dog begins to recognize the baby as another pack leader in the house.

-Continue to give your dog time and attention when you can so they don’t feel neglected.

These are all great tips and thankfully they are all things we have been doing to some degree already, so hopefully bringing Bambino home won’t be a huge shock to poor wittle Henry.

I just have a feeling that Neal and I will both constantly have some baby in our arms… either the small soft and pink variety or the small furry wet-nose variety.

Do they make Baby Bjorns for dogs????

The Great Bambino- Week 34

Wow. Looking back at last week’s update I realized I was cranky! Yikes. The whole post was basically negative and whiny. Umm… apologies? Can I blame it on the hormones?

Please forgive the cranky-pants submission of last week, and here is what went down in Pregnancy Town in Week 34.

Bambino’s Size: A honeydew melon… same as last week. 5 ¼ lbs (same as Henry!) and pretty much full-length at 19.” From here on out he is just plumping up.
Food Loves: I’m back and forth.. some days I’m hardly hungry at all and all I can eat is a yogurt and some fruit and I’m stuffed… and then other days I want to eat all damn day long, whatever I can get my hands on. I’m still sticking to my lower carb regime… but still really craving anything Dairy Queen. Not giving in though!!
Food that’s Gagging me: The usual. Pork and shrimp.
Sleep: The nighttime heartburn is kicking my ass, big time. I had a lot of trouble sleeping over the weekend from it, and ended up on the couch one night… I don’t know what it is about a couch, but it seems to help the acid go away. Call me stupidly stubborn, but I’m so close to the end that I don’t want to get a prescription for the heartburn, I’d rather just deal with it the best I can. Tums (aka my BFF) still work ok.. I just need to make sure I stop eating at least 4 hours before bedtime, since anything less than that seems to bring on the late night acid attacks. Since Neal and I go to bed at 9pm usually, this might make having dinner a bit tricky though..  
Best Moment of the Week: Definitely my weigh-in at my Dr’s appointment on Wednesday and seeing the changes I’ve made actually work!!! We also got Bambino’s room finished too, so that was a big accomplishment and makes it feel even more like the end is pressing near. I’ll share pics of his room in a near future post.

Worst Moment of the Week:  Finding out at my Dr’s appt that my blood pressure is a “bit” high… he was not concerned and told me not to be concerned, but he wanted me to start my weekly appt’s from then on out so he could monitor my BP closer. I have to admit, I am a little worried… I’ve known two girls who’ve had to go on bed rest in the final weeks of their pregnancies because of high BP, and I don’t want to waste several weeks of my maternity leave from work on bed rest. Not to mention, how incredibly boring would that be?? OMG I would go crazy. So I’m hoping for an improvement in my BP at my appt this Wednesday.

What’s Up with My Body: I’m still in pain daily. I’m not complaining (at least not this time.. last week, I totally was..) because I know it’s just part of the deal. My hips and back are just achy all the time whether I sit, stand, walk, lie down, lounge, etc. Truthfully, I’m getting used to it.. when he’s born and my hips don’t ache all day I’ll probably think it’s the weirdest feeling ever.

Bambino is still really active in there and it feels like he is all knees and elbows sometimes because of all the pushing and knobby little limbs I can feel sticking out. His head is down, and my belly is already pretty low (I’ve carried low the whole time) and it seems like he is getting squished in there.. so maybe, just maybe, he’ll make an early appearance?!?!

WE INTERRUPT THIS POST FOR THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

You may not see these weekly updates from me anymore.. I feel like they are getting super monotonous because not a lot is changing in my pregnancy at this point. Bambino is done cooking. My weight is more stable. My hips are sore. I have heartburn. I don’t want to eat shrimp. My blood pressure is a bit high. I *heart* compression socks. And that about sums it up…

So unless there is something significant in the next 5 weeks or so, I probably won’t do these formal weekly updates.. I’m even starting to bore myself a bit with them, so I can’t imagine how bored y’all must be…. yeah, yeah.. I hear you yawning… J

Anyways, I do owe you a belly pic though, since I didn’t get one in last week.

Da Bump: This is what the end of pregnancy does to you. It makes your belly button poke out. And your eyes glow. And you get a bit looney. And you procrastinate about things, like taking down Christmas decorations...And you really start craving some Captain...