Bump and Nursery Pictures!

Here is my 37 week bump picture and pictures of the finished nursery. Our little Sprout is coming soon!

Things I took for granted (37 Weeks)

A few things I took for granted before pregnancy:

• Finding a comfortable position to sit, stand, and especially sleep.
• Breathing deeply
• Bending at the waist
• Tying my shoes
• Putting on and taking off pants, socks, or anything on the lower half of my body without having to sit down
• Knowing that the clothes that fit yesterday would fit today
• Conversations that did not involve invasive questions about my health and body
• Fitting into a booth and a restaurant
• Being the same shoe size in the morning and in the evening
• Walking up the stairs without feeling winded
• Getting in and out of the car without developing a strategy in advance
• Seeing a newborn when I'm out and not getting all weepy and emotional
• Walking without pain

I'm sure there are more, but that's the list for today.

All complaining aside, I know that I've had an amazingly smooth pregnancy and I'm incredibly grateful. It's so strange to know that our little Sprout could show up any day now and it's so exciting! DH is going to be the cutest dad ever. He installed the car seats yesterday and he didn't want to take the carrier out of his car. He says that it's helping him get in the right mindset. Yesterday, he was pretending to talk to her in the car seat. It was adorable.

Sleep has been a real struggle. I just cannot get comfortable anymore. Between not being able to breathe if I'm on my back and the pelvic pain if I'm on my side, I just roll around a lot until I'm so tired I pass out. Then I'm a zombie the rest of the day. I know I'll get even less sleep once the baby arrives, but I'd like to get some in now!

I had some contractions yesterday for the first time. It was wild and a real eye-opener. I feel like I should be nesting more. Our house is a disaster and needs some serious work. We need to do some grocery shopping and stocking up on some essentials. The nursery is done, except that DH needs to get his tools out of there and put away so that we can take some pictures and I can post them. It is really cute. This just gets more and more real every day. I'm excited and nervous and scared. I'm ready not to be pregnant any more, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready for the baby. We'll see how long she decides to hang out!

35 Weeks and I'm still a slacker

I'm starting to come to the amazing conclusion that I'm actually going to have a baby. It just gets more real every day. My wonderful husband went into nesting overload this weekend. He was in a frenzy! I think he expected to get everything done that needed to get done before the baby over the weekend. He had a little freak out Sunday morning and we had to talk about it later, when he was calmer. We're both just getting nervous and anxious. We just have to make sure we're working together and not against each other.

We shopped for all the stuff we still needed, which was a lot, since the only gifts I've gotten have been clothes. We definitely did our part to stimulate the economy! I've been washing and sorting clothes and linens and other things. How in the world can there be so much stuff for someone so small? It's overwhelming, to be sure. There is much sorting and organizing to be done and many details to be completed. It's going to take some time.

My pelvic pain has gotten better, though it's still ever-present. My back, on the other hand hurts a lot when I've been standing for more than 10 minutes. It makes it hard to accomplish nearly as much as I want to accomplish in a day. I think that frustrates my husband because he doesn't quite realize the extent of my physical limitations.

I'm also starting to prep cloth diapers. I'm pretty nervous about them and that I'll do it all wrong! I've read a ton, but I have zero experience, so there's definitely going to be a learning curve. Luckily, DH is on board with the whole thing. I'm just worried that if we have any problems, he won't stay on board. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I go for my 36 week appointment and Group B Strep test next week. Then, it will be every week after that. She's coming soon! I'm happy and excited and nervous and scared silly. I sure hope I can do this. I want so much for my daughter and I don't want to let her down.

33 Weeks and vacation time!

My husband and I are on our way out of town in just a few minutes. We are heading to the mountains for a few peaceful days to rest and enjoy being together. I hope it's just what we need - to celebrate our life together before adding to our family.

I had an appointment yesterday and my blood pressure is a bit elevated. I'm going to have to go in again next week and then weekly, unless it goes back down. I'm hoping it was just a fluke because of the heat and some dehydration. I guess we'll see. It wasn't high enough for anything more than extra monitoring, so I'm grateful for that. I'd sure hate to miss our vacation. The doctor told me to go and have fun. It would be good for me and us.

I've been having a pretty significant amount of pain at my pubic bone. It's gotten pretty debilitating at times, but seems to have gotten a little better in the last two days. My doctor says it's normal, but it hurts! I've started going swimming at the YMCA and it's been heavenly. Why didn't I do this sooner? They have a warm water therapy pool. I feel like I could stay there all day. I started swimming when walking was too painful, but now I'm hooked. I think I'll keep going for as long as I can!

It's been a hard week on the Internet. Some beautiful people who are having to cope with illnesses and losses of their babies. I just keep talking to our Little Sprout and crying tears and prayers of gratitude for her little life inside me and tears and prayers of sympathy and hope for those who are going through such difficult times. My brain can't process it all.

What a week!

I began my 30th week with the fantastic 3D ultrasound experience, but the next day, I took quite the tumble in a parking lot when I was with my mom. I stepped wrong coming off a curb and landed on my hands and knees. I still look like a 10 year old that just fell off her bike. I should post a picture of my scraped up knees. I landed pretty hard. The sunglasses that were in my hand were totalled.

I called the doctor and they had me come in. I was an hour away, though. My mom followed me back. I really wasn't terribly worried at first because I hadn't hit my belly and I knew that falls like that usually don't cause harm to baby, but my mom was a nervous wreck. Of course, the whole way home, I kept poking at the baby, trying to get her to move and she was being stubborn, so I started to get a little nervous.

I called my husband as soon as it happened and told him, "your klutz of a wife just fell." He's laughing about that now. I didn't realize how worried he was until he came to the doctor's office to meet me when I was there. I wasn't expecting him and I could tell by the look on his face that we was very concerned. He told me later that just a few days before there had been a baby at the hospital that they lost due to a placental abruption and the mom was about as far along as I am now, so that probably had him a little edgy.

Anyway, they hooked me up to monitors for awhile. It took the nurse quite some time to find the little Sprout's heartbeat, which about gave her mom a heart attack, but once they found it, she did NOT like the monitor at all and started wiggling and kicking. It was great to just lay there and listen to the heartbeat and feel her moving again. The doctor came in after awhile and confirmed that everything looked good. He said that basically, it's extremely rare for a fall like the one I had to cause any major problems, but when they do, they can be devastating, so that's why they always suggest getting checked out after any kind of fall.

So, I rested most of the weekend. I had my regular OB appointment on Tuesday. I'm a little ahead of where I should be in the weight gain department. I was really depressed about it for a few days, because I feel like I've been trying so hard and doing so much better than I was pre-pregnancy, but it doesn't seem to matter. I'm a little more rational now, but I still feel like I'm a bit of a pregnancy failure this week. But, our little girl is doing well and moving around like crazy, and that's the important thing.

30 weeks - I'm such a slacker

So, I've been waiting to post until my wonderful husband took another bump photo, but I can't seem to pin him down. I guess I should just use my point and shoot in the mirror like everybody else!

I cannot believe that I am 30 weeks. When did that happen? We had our 3D/4D ultrasound today and it was amazing to actually see her face. She was folded up with her legs in front of her face, so we mostly got her profile and her

legs/foot, but it was still amazing. The tech had us reschedule so that we could get all the measurements she wanted, so we go for another one in a week and a half. I hope she's in a better position. She would not budge at all!

Now that I know

that she is in that position, I understand why I haven't felt her movement the same way in a few days. I still feel her move, but not in the same way. I'm relieved that it's just her position and not anything wrong.

She weighs about 3 pounds, 10 ounces and they said she measured 31 weeks 4 days. My husband says measurements at this point are +/- 2 weeks. So I'm trying not to panic about a big baby!

We've been doing some baby shopping and now have her bassinet and car seat and few other bigger purchases. We went through things and decided that we have everything that we really need before she arrives except a few smaller items. Of course there's still plenty to do and we're still waiting for our nursery furniture.

School starts in 2 weeks and I won't be starting. It's going to be very strange to not be wrapped up in the school year. I've been having lunch dates with teacher friends to stay apprised on the latest gossip and facebook is great for that stuff, too.

So, 10 more weeks to go. It doesn't seem that long any more!

July 21

We went baby shopping today and ordered our way-too-expensive stroller and did some other shopping. When my husband was signing the receipt, he asked for the date. July 21. Wow. It hit me hard. I didn't even realize it was coming. July 21st was the due date for my first pregnancy.

I can't say that I haven't thought about that loss. It's still with me often and, as much as I wish I could say otherwise, it has shaded this pregnancy and caused me to worry. It was much worse early on, but part of me still waits for the next shoe to drop, for something to go very wrong. I can only imagine what it must be like for those who had later or multiple losses. I only knew I was pregnant for a few days, but it was enough to have dreams realized and dashed.

I'm not sure how to even express my feelings about it right now. I started to say that I should have had a baby this month, but no, that's not right. It was not meant to be. But there is still a real feeling of emptiness today. It is, of course, tempered by the joy of the little Sprout dancing around my belly right now as I type, but it is there. I feel guilty that I didn't recognize that this day was coming, as if I have somehow not honored it properly.

So, I'm paying special attention to the little girl I have now, and thinking about those months ago when I was ready to give up hope. Every little life is a miracle and I've experienced two of them. The first was only with us a short time, but continues to bless us with greater appreciation for what we have, a stronger marriage, and much more empathy for those around us whose struggles we do not know.