Still Here...

It's 6:30 on Sunday afternoon, the night before my 39 week appointment. I honestly didn't think I would be sitting here childless. Why? I'm not really sure. I'm not due for another week...what was I thinking? I guess it is mostly because of the words of others. People constantly looking at me and telling me I wouldn't make it 40 weeks, my doctor telling me last Monday that I was 2 cm and 50% effaced...I guess hearing those things in addition to all of the Braxton Hicks episodes I've had over the past 2 weeks really got my hopes up that I was going to go into labor on my own before 39 weeks.

But I didn't. Or at least not yet!

So tomorrow I go for my 39 week appointment. Rusty is going with me since this is supposed to be the day that we "come up with a plan" according to what the doctor told us at my 36 week appointment. She acted like since he was so big at 36 weeks (estimated 7 pounds 8 ounces) that if he wasn't here by 39 weeks that we would induce (if it looked like that was favorable, and at this point I'm pretty sure it does) or schedule a C-Section if she thought he wouldn't "fit". So needless to say, I am EXTREMELY ANXIOUS to see what the doctor will have to say tomorrow!

Daddy:

I got to thinking about something the past few days. I always post pictures of me/my belly and tell all of my symptoms, thoughts, etc. But what about Daddy?

Rusty has been great. I know I have morphed into a slightly different person over the past few months. One who snores EVERY NIGHT and apparently has started having kicking fits as I struggle to get comfortable, has to have the house FREEZING to sleep, can be VERY indecisive, and occasionally a little emotional. But Rusty has been a trooper. He has helped me stay focused on what is important and has been extremely supportive the past nine months and even before as we planned for our first baby. The past few days he has gone walking with me, trying to get Little Man to come on out, and he has even been sleeping in the recliner so he can actually get some sleep while I take advantage of the king size pillow top. : )

AND.............even though he TOTALLY shouldn't have and I told him that A TRILLION times afterwards, Rusty surprised me Friday with a little "push present". He said he didn't want to give it to me at the hospital and since we didn't know when Hudson would be coming, he wanted to go ahead and give it to me. (Sidenote: Rusty has a really hard time waiting to give someone a present that he is excited about...it's kinda cute. : ) He even proposed early because my ring was ready earlier than expected and he just couldn't wait.) I insisted that this was NOT necessary, but he insisted that I deserved it and he wanted me to have it to remember this special time in our lives in the years to come. He is the sweetest. I'm a very lucky lady.

Please excuse my swollen man-hand. I told Rusty that I would (hopefully) have to go get a smaller size once I am back to normal. ; )

Symptoms:

I can't believe this could be my last week of preggers symptoms! I'm super excited, but many people say you will miss it and I can totally understand what they mean. Who doesn't want to have a little buddy with them all the time? Being able to feel their little kicks, rolls, and hiccups? This week the swelling in my feet has gotten a little better as I have tried to take it easy the last half of the week after being a little swollen and having elevated blood pressure Monday. My biggest complaint is just general uncomfortableness. In the bed, when I sit, when I walk waddle, pretty much all the time. It's not so bad that you can't stand it. It's just frustrating when the only way you are comfortable is in the recliner with a pillow behind your back. My friend heartburn is still hanging around, too. But besides that, I honestly have no complaints. Pregnancy has been very kind to me, I am well aware. Many women suffer almost the whole nine months with "morning" sickness, heartburn, major swelling, etc, so I know I have had it very easy.

Sleep:

Once I get comfortable, I am OUT. I don't really have any trouble going back to sleep if I get up during the night. I am SO glad it has been spring break for me this week because I have taken a 2 hour (at least, sometimes more) nap Wednesday - Sunday. Not because I wanted to, but because I literally was exhausted I couldn't stand it.

Maternity Clothes:

I hate getting dressed now because it is so hot and I all I have to wear is jeans. I wish I was one of those cute girls in a dress, but I am not going to go buy one. I am too cheap!! I have the maternity dress on in the picture from today, and that is it. All of the other dresses I wore were not maternity and I can't get away with that now.

Mommy and Daddy at our first shower in December - 25 weeksMichelin Man Mommy in the same dress - 39 weeks

We can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!! I am going to touch up the house and have everything ready when I go to the doctor tomorrow. And OF COURSE I will keep you posted!!

Hudson's Room

I didn't really have a theme in mind when I started. I'm not really a theme person, but it has kind of turned into a "transportation" theme. I just knew I liked the striped and polka dot fabric by Caden Lane. So I had Becker's Bedding make the bedding, and then I just found things that matched from there.

All of the furniture is from Storkland in Vestavia Hills

Custom Artwork by Jan Phillips, inspired by Renditions by Reesa

Changing table from Buy Buy Baby
Pack N Play is ready in Mommy and Daddy's Room
Swing is ready in the living room
EVERYONE is (im)patiently waiting on Hudson's arrival!!

38 Weeks - Just call me "Queen of the Ultrasounds"

Today I went in for what I thought would be a very routine 38 week check up. I figured I would do my labs, get examined, and be on my way. Why have I not learned from this pregnancy that my little man is full of surprises and is constantly going to keep me on my toes?

So I sign in, do my labs, and the nurse comes and gets me to check my weight and blood pressure. I always hold my breath a little bit during this 3 minute span because I am always silently praying that my blood pressure will be ok. I know so many people that make it 8 months just fine, only to have Preeclampsia with a few weeks to go and wind up being on bed rest or induced. My blood pressure has been great - even LOW, until today. At my 37 weeks appt, my BP was 122/68. Today, the first time she checked it, it was 130/90. She was not too happy. After a few questions for me and a quick chat with the doctor, they decided they would do an ultrasound to check my amniotic fluid. I was shocked. Since I was having an ultrasound and they were planning on me getting a growth ultrasound next week anyway, they went ahead and checked his measurements. Ultrasound results: everything looked great, and they guesstimated that he weighs about 8 pounds 4 ounces. I could be wrong, but I think that makes my 7th ultrasound, and he's/I'm not even high risk! Just call me "Queen of the Ultrasounds."

After the ultrasound, I went back to the exam room. She said I was 2cm and 50% thinned! WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!! She even stretched my membranes a little bit, without much warning, and it was pretty uncomfortable. But, if it speeds up the process, I'm fine with it! She said there was no protein in my urine, so they did another BP check before I left and it had dropped at little to 138/80, so those things combined made the doctor a happier. She wants me to come back in Thursday morning for another BP/urine check, just to be safe.

Symptoms:

Let me first say that last time I posted I felt bad about listing my "symptoms" because it sounds like I am complaining. While most of the current symptoms are somewhat unpleasant, I'm just stating the facts. Lots of pregnant ladies like to read other pregnant ladies' blogs and compare symptoms/experiences, so I want to tell what I have really been going through. This past week, the feet swelling has really picked up and has gotten pretty bad the past few days. Heartburn and reflux have drastically increased, including in the middle of the night. Frequent bathroom breaks, back pain, and fatigue are still part of the regular routine.

Sleep:

Sleep has been ok. I woke up recently with acid reflux so bad that I had to take medicine and stay sitting up for an hour or so before I could lie back down. That's the worst that it's been.

Maternity Clothes:

It's 88 degrees outside and I don't have any maternity shorts/summer clothes and I REFUSE to buy any to wear for a few days.

What I've been up to lately:

wreath for the hospital door

goody basket for the nurses' station and Hudson's visitors

Belly Pic:

Could these be the LAST ones??? : )

POST ON THE NURSERY TOMORROW!

37 Weeks- "A Good 1"

Just a quick update...sorry for no pictures. I've been running lots of errands and doing tons and tons and tons of little things. Rusty was my chauffeur and side kick as I tried to get a lot accomplished all over town Sunday after church. He was great and handled all of the "house stuff" so I could do some baby and work stuff Sunday night. I am so lucky to have such a great partner in life. : )

Symptoms:

All of the normal from last week plus waddling, reflux, finding it impossible to get comfortable, and SOME CONTRACTIONS!!! : ) No, I was not in labor. There was no pattern; they did not become more frequent or intense, but when I did have one, it HURT. They were pretty painful and scattered throughout the day on Friday, then I only had 1 or 2 a day on Saturday and Sunday. The doctor referred to them as "practice contractions".

Sleep:

Sleep is about them same. It is just getting harder to get comfortable. I'm still getting up once or twice a night to use the bathroom. If I have a lot to do and I stay moving, I'm ok. I didn't go to bed until after 11 last night because I just kept doing stuff. But, right now I'm in bed (trying to get comfortable) as I write this and I can barely keep my eyes open.

The weather has been GREAT lately and I am so happy to have more daylight now. Maybe Rusty and I will have the time (and energy) to do some walking to help little man come along. However, with spring comes dresses, bathing suits, and short shorts. Which leads me to this:

Dear Victoria's Secret, Express, Macy's and all of the other places where I love to buy summertime clothes:

Please stop sending me emails and sale ads with the latest and hottest bathing suits, dresses, skinny jeans, etc. I long to wear your brightly colored fabrics and styles without a hem line right under the ladies or ruching on the sides, but right now it is just not happening and probably won't until the first of summer. It is KILLING me to keep putting on these stretchy belly pants over my pasty white legs while everyone else is breaking out the sundresses. So please remove me from your email list for the next few weeks. Thanks.

Nursery: I just keep adding little things here and there, but I did order a big 20x20 quote frame off Etsy last night and it will hopefully be here at the end of the week. When it gets in, I will post pictures of the finished nursery.

AND NOW TO THE IMPORTANT STUFF:

At the doctor today:

Heartbeat: 147 - perfect
Blood Pressure: 122/68 - perfect
Dilation: "A GOOD 1 CM"!!!!! Not just a centimeter people. She said, "Oh, you're 1 cm...you're a good 1 cm (with a huge smile on her face). Making some progress!" Even the nurse was excited! I think my "team" is hoping this baby will come on his own within the next two weeks so that we don't have to force him to come out. I haven't thinned any really, but hearing I was 1 cm was enough for me. MUSIC TO MY EARS.

I may post some pictures later in the week with a few other little things I've been working on. For now, I've got to get up or I'm going to fall asleep.

Keep praying for progress and good health!

36 Weeks - NONE?!?! Not even a little?!

Today I went for my first "check". Ladies, you know what this means, so I won't go into great detail. It was the normal routine: lab work, weigh in, and blood pressure check - which was perfect - YAY! Then it was off to the ultrasound room. For once, there was only one person in front of us, so we were in and out quickly. Another YAY! Hate waiting at the doctor!

Ultrasound:

The ultrasound was great. We were able to see his sweet face, but he is already getting squished against me, so AGAIN, couldn't get a great picture. I hope this isn't foreshadowing because this Momma is a picture taking fool and I will need little man to participate! Anyways, the important stuff: no change in the kidneys, which is good, amniotic fluid was perfect, AND...... he is still at D-lineman status. Now, I've had several people tell me that their doctor estimated their baby's weight and they were actually less than that at birth. The last doctor I saw said they usually over estimate, and the ultrasound tech said they can be off -/+ 1lb, but either way, we still have a hefty boy. From babycenter.com: "At 36 weeks, your baby weighs about 6 pounds.: Today, they estimated Hudson to weigh 7 pounds 8 ounces, which puts him in the 90th percentile. So, that is now the thing to watch. If he isn't here on his own by 39 weeks, we will have another growth ultrasound and come up with a game plan from there. He is currently head down, looking toward my left side.

NONE:

During my "check", she did the Strep B Test, then came "the exam". I was relieved when it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as people said it would be, but when the words "yeah, he is still nice and high" and "yep, nice and tight...no thinning or dilation" I was in shock. I even asked her...."None? Not even a little?" I was so sure that SOMETHING was going on down there after all of the pains I have been having. Not to mention the daily "How far along are you?.....You ain't gonna make it ____ more weeks....He is really low." comments from EVERYONE - even complete strangers! I'm totally ok with him baking for a few more weeks, but I was truly shocked when she told me there was no progress at this point. She did say that was totally typical at 36 weeks for first time mothers. All I could think was, "Yeah, but my baby is HUGE and is pushing on my insides!! You mean all those pains mean nothing?!?"

Symptoms:

Besides aches/pains/contractions (?), the urge to pee is even worse, lots of back pain, feet hurt all the time, slight swelling, and I've noticed I'm walking slower. INDECISIVENESS. I've always been terribly indecisive, but now that preggers brain has seriously lowered by brain function, making a decision is almost possible. I literally started sweating when trying to decide on a font and thread color to monogram his coming home blanket in. I'm sure the rude lady helping me made it worse, but still....it was really bad.

Sleep:

Getting worse, but thankfully I'll have a good night every few days to catch me back up. It is just hard to get comfortable with this belly, and now my back has even started hurting when I am on my side.

What we've been up to the past few days...

boiling bottles and pacifiers to sterilize

all of Hudson's stuff for the hospital
bags are packed and in the car
car seat and mirror installed

Belly Pic:


AND................................

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT ADRIANNE!!! How about an old school pic to celebrate? ; )