Due date!

No sign of little girl. I am not surprised a bit. My little Sagittarian now. I'm feeling really good lately, sleeping well, and nesting like nobody's business.

Oh, and expanding, check it out:

I lifted up my shirt and my husband said 'holy crap, watch where you point that thing'.  I do feel a lot bigger in the middle area. And she still moves like crazy in there. 

My sister stopped by today on her way to SC. Here I am exactly 40 weeks pregnant and she's exactly 20 weeks. Won't this be a great picture to show them later?  

Nothing too much to report... I can't wait to post my birth story & pics of our baby girl!

puppies falling asleep...

I know this may be the equivalent of watching paint dry for some, but in case you have a minute and a half and want to watch a puppy falling asleep, I've got just the video for you.

p.s. Obviously no baby yet or I'd be taking videos of her :)

checking in...

I'm going to try to update a bit more often, as I can see it's about that time when people are wondering about baby girl's earthly debut. I had my check up on Tuesday and everything looks great. They estimate by feel that she's about 6 lbs. with plenty of fluid. I'm 131.5 pounds with lots of extra fluid :)

She has finally rotated a bit; however, she is now completely and directly posterior. They say this isn't bad, that perhaps she needs to spin that way first to get in good position. Plus, she could wait to rotate until labor so I have decided to keep doing my exercises, visualization and just let it go. No sense worrying about anything.

This morning I completely finished all my work, so now I just get to nest and play. I've felt much more relaxed the past couple days. I think it is because of the job, but also I have had NO back pain. I think this is a first since  way back in the first trimester. I've also been sleeping remarkably well. I still get up lots of times to pee, but I fall right back asleep. And it occurred to me that I used to always have problems falling asleep - it would take me about an hour. Now, no lie, I push play on my hypnobabies track and then just pass out.  I'm not quite sure if it's general exhaustion by the end of the day, or I'm just so conditioned to relax when I hear the hypnobabies stuff. In either case it is really nice to wake up feeling rested.

Baby girl has been busy kicking the crap out of her mama. I've been talking to her a lot more - she seems more of a person now that I can see her through my skin and since I know I'll be meeting her shortly.  Mainly I talk to her about how she can feel safe to come out whenever she's ready. That we're ready. That she has two loving parents who can't wait to hold her and meet her and take care of her. I wonder out loud to her about what she looks like. I logically think she'll have a bit of blond hair (both Gabe and I were blonds when young believe it or not) but I usually picture her with dark hair. I talk to her about the weather in November in North Carolina. I'll tell you about it too - it's awesome!  I wore sandals today, and not just because my feet are swollen a bit. The mornings are crisp and cool, and in the evenings the leaves are crunchy and outside smells like campfires. I'm excited to be able to have nice stroller walks with her on the sunny, warmer days throughout winter, but also have that cozy, cold and dark winter feeling when we're snuggled in at night.

As far as labor signs, I don't know what to say. I've had crampiness and contractions and pressure for weeks now so I think that's the norm. No big changes. The full moon is on Sunday, my due date, and my prenatal vitamins run out that day, too. In general, though, I don't feel anything is very imminent. Given family history I've come to expect babies that take their time getting here...

39 weeks

She's almost here!  I'm starting to dream about her at night. After such a productive weekend I'm also becoming more relaxed instead of being so frantic-nesty.  We finished the nursery last night, with pictures to come. Lots of house projects are done or near completion. I finished work last Friday. I have a couple more days of pretty important errands to run, and then after that she can come any time. (Yes, I totally realize I have not much control over this.)  

She is definitely getting bigger. After a few weeks of no weight gain or belly changes, I think I'm noticing a difference the past couple days. She's pushing out more. I freaked out a little in the car today. I felt her normal pushes and wiggles and looked down to see this (keep in mind my back is flat - I'm not turned at all): 

Gabe turned from driving to see and also was in a bit of shock. I think she's trying to bust out of there sometimes. I'm taking evening primrose oil, red leaf raspberry tea, doing inversions, pelvic tilts and exercises on the birthing ball. Also practicing Hypnobabies diligently. Hopefully will have birthing bag ready within a couple days. Wondering if I'll ever feel ready, but at this point it's probably ready or not here she comes pretty soon.

Gabe and I are trying to consciously enjoy the quiet mornings, the ability to go out whenever we'd like with little preparation and full nights of sleep.  Today we went to our favorite NC restaurant Cypress on the Hill  for their first Sunday brunch. It was so good we ordered 3 entrees between us. So. Good. Easily the best eggs benedict I've ever had (I've had that a lot, too). 

Here's this week's belly picture. I've just taken a belly wrap off I usually wear so I'm not sure if any belly droppage is adequately represented. All I know is I pee about 3 times an hour so I'm pretty sure her head is now resting fully on my bladder. 

waiting...

 

38 weeks!

Home stretch. The average baby is about 6.8 pounds and 19.5 inches. Baby girl is getting squished because her movements are so different. I feel limbs and sometimes see them. One morning before I got up I felt her whole body move in there. I will find out for sure at my check-up tomorrow, but I think she's still in that same position. She needs to rotate a bit for an ideal birth position.

I'm feeling pretty huge and awkward. I've had contractions and crampiness all week, though it's let up the past couple days. So today I cleaned all day. Cleaned-toilets-twice sort of clean. I am currently trying to avoid a meltdown because my sour cream apple streusel cake did not turn out like I wanted, just like my molasses spiced cookies did not turn out how I wanted. I don't know why but this seems really important. The combination of hormones & darkness at 5 p.m. has done me in.

Here is my belly pic for 38 weeks:

These are the clothes I slept in, then cleaned in all day. I almost threw up on them twice (but threw up in my mouth instead). Then I sneezed in the kitchen and peed myself a bit. But since the cake wasn't quite done I curled up in front of the warm oven and dozed until the timer went off.  Ah, the beauty of pregnancy  :)  

It's definitely time for a shower and sleep....

Maternity Pictures

I know I'm overdue a day for my 38 week update. Ignore that momentarily while I tell you that our maternity pictures are back and they are fabulous!

If you want to check them out, here's the info:

Please visit http://www.collages.net, and fill in the following information:
Username: Alysa Maternity Pictures
Password: 22183

Our wonderful friends at LunahZon are responsible for capturing this moment in time in the most beautiful way. I CANNOT wait until they take our newborn photos :)