We're making progress...

Today was my 38 week appointment.

(Sound of crickets chirping...)

(More crickets....)

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If you can't tell, I don't have much to report. (sigh)

I'm still CLOSED. No dilation whatsoever. But there IS some good news.... I'm "starting to soften", according to my doctor. WOO HOO! I don't know exactly what percentage effaced that might be, but at least it's SOMETHING. (TMI, but the sex must be working! Haha!!)

I don't know what all doc did while he was poking around up there, but I've been kinda crampy ever since the internal exam. Nothing major, but enough to be uncomfortable. But hey, maybe he stirred things up a bit so we can get this labor ball rolling. LOL.

My BP today was a little up, 120/80... and (grr) I gained another pound. I haven't been eating as much over the past week either, and I DID notice my feet and ankles are a little puffy today, so I know I have some water retention going on right now.

After the nurse got my weight and BP, she checked the fetal heart tones. Aly was being cooperative today and stayed in one spot long enough to let the nurse get her heart rate. (More good news too--- the nurse told me, "I think you've dropped a bit honey! Last time I saw you, your belly was higher up near your breasts, and now it's lower.") YAY FOR PROGRESS! She laughed cause once she told me that, I got all excited. Since she wasn't in the room with me during my internal exam, she came up and asked me, "Well? Any progress?" afterwards. I told her, "Well, I'm softening, so that's a start!"

Guess I'm gonna have to give in and do the sex thing every night now, as much as I might not be in the mood. Hubby will be thrilled about THAT. LOL. For now, I'm gonna relax, put my feet up and be lazy for awhile. The house cleaning will have to come later. (Or tomorrow!)

Before I go, here are some pics I took today of my 38 week prego belly.



Where are my feet?! :-)


Have a great day!

Where's my golden ticket?

I'm starting to get impatient. Not to mention MOODY! I'm just feeling kinda miserable lately.

Wow, how's that for a nice, upbeat start to a post?

I just feel like this baby is never going to come. I can't imagine how you other mommies-to-be who are approaching (or past) 40 weeks feel! I'm not even 38 weeks yet and I'm already thinking, "Bring it on, already!!!!"

I never thought I would look forward to seeing something as gross as a mucous plug in the toilet, but every time I go to the bathroom I turn around and look in the toilet hoping to see a little glimmer of hope that SOMETHING is going on 'downstairs.' It's equal to the suspense that Charlie Bucket had when opening up a candy bar in hopes of finding that golden ticket.

But sadly, nothing yet. No mucous plug. No water breaking. No golden ticket.

I know things are getting closer though, so that's good. I've been getting more and more braxton hicks, despite drinking water like a fish. Sometimes the crampiness goes to my lower back (owwwww....kinda like right now!), but those are few and far between. I'm just hoping that the pains in my back are just a signal that labor is coming soon, and not a sign that baby Aly is turned the wrong way. :-(

I just still get a heck of a lot of those sharp pains in my hoo ha...baby Aly is knocking on the door of my cervix 24-7. I think she's having fun down there, thinking, "Wow, what's this?" KICK! POKE! KICK! POKE! "Cool! It makes mommy jump!"
Gotta love it. Yeah right.

I just CAN'T WAIT to see my baby girl. It seems like once 37 weeks hit, my impatience factor went off the charts. I want her out NOW! lol. Not that I don't still have some things to do before she gets here, but I'm just tired of being pregnant and want little Aly in my arms and not my belly. I'm just wondering how long my OB doc will let me go before he suggests induction or something. I just picture myself being, like, 50 weeks pregnant. LOL. Yeah, I know THAT can't happen, but that's what it feels like...like I've been pregnant forever. In a way, I wish he would say, "OK, if you don't progress, we'll induce on this day." You know, so I at least have a DATE. So I'm not so unsure of things. Maybe if I don't progress at this next appointment, he'll suggest something. Heck, with all those sharp pains I'm getting, I'd have thought I'd be halfway dilated by now, but NOTHING. (sigh)

I guess I'm just venting now, sorry... it's just that once the back pains and the coochie pains and the worn-out feeling hit, this girl has gotten grouchy. :-P Hopefully I have some news to report SOON! :-)

(Taps on belly)- "Hey Aly... you know how last post I said that you can come out anytime? I wasn't joking. Really, you can."

:-)

37 week appointment

I had my 37 week appointment yesterday... no big news to report here. I'm still NOTHING. Not dilated, not effaced (or at least he didn't TELL me I was.) BOO HISS! I at least wanted to be SOMETHING!

So now I go back next Thursday. Hopefully the 38 week appointment brings some better news!

In the meantime, I'm still having lots of Braxton Hicks, and lots of those sharp knife-like pains in the you-know-what. Not to mention, just a few days ago, I started getting occasional crampy feelings that send pain to my lower back!!! Now THOSE suck. It kinda scared me at first, cause I remember my cousin saying she had back pain for a few days, then her little Olivia made an appearance in the world shortly after. But so far, none of the back pain today. Those are just few and far between.

I'm kinda hoping that the full moon this coming weekend leads to Alyson's birthday.... wishful thinking, I know. But it's a nice thought!

(Aly, you can come any time, ok baby girl? Mommy's getting miserable!)

What better thing to do at 2am than laundry?

For some reason, I think Aly is going to come within the next week or two. I've been having alot more braxton hicks contractions lately... they're just uncomfortable enough to irritate me. They make me feel short of breath when they happen too... like my chest is tight or something. Anyone else feel that too?! Once they're gone, I breathe fine. Weird.

I've been a huge bundle of emotions lately too. I get irritated by the slightest thing. I cry at the drop of a hat, and sometimes I have no idea WHY I'm crying. One minute I'm totally exhausted and moody, and the next minute I'm happy, excited,and wanting to scrub floors or am attacking my house with pledge and windex. Earlier this evening I was reading online that, "If you feel very emotional, it may very well signal that the end of your pregnancy is near." Woo hoo! I laughed and asked Russ, "So honey... have I been emotional lately?" and he sarcastically said, "Nooooo......not at all." That's what I thought. :-P

The other thing that makes me know the "end is in sight"---I've been majorly bitten by the nesting bug these past few days!! I had been on hiatus from my 'neat freak' behaviors for awhile, but they've returned. I just spent 3 hours doing laundry and fixing things up in the nursery...and yes, it's the middle of the night.

As you may have guessed, I haven't been sleeping all that well lately. For awhile there, I couldn't stay awake on my nights off. I'd be in bed at 9pm and sleep til 6 or 7am (when my husband gets up). But now, I'm exhausted during the day but totally wired at night. I fell asleep at 9pm lastnight and slept til 1:30am.... I woke up and my husband wasn't in bed with me, so I got up to look and see where he had gone. I looked in the living room...no hubby. Then I went downstairs in the basement and found him sleeping on the couch. I asked if he wanted to come upstairs and he said "No, I just needed more room honey." Granted, our dogs have been major bed hogs lately, but I think his,uh, pregnant wife has been keeping him awake with her tossing and turning lately. He must have just wanted to be nice and blamed it on the dogs. LOL. Poor guy.

So since I was downstairs, I decided to do some laundry, then was wide awake again and figured what the heck-- I'd go up in the nursery and see what I could get into. I ended up making alot of progress, I must say. I took alot of stuff out of the boxes and put them where they need to go, and arranged Aly's closet so it's nice and neat. I put together Aly's 'Kick and Crawl Aquarium Gym' (which was easy, that's why I did it...lol), so now that's done. I just have another small load of baby laundry to do and I think I'm set for now. The only things I have left to do in the nursery are to put the window valances up, and to get the bedding all washed up for the kid bed. I did the sheets already, but not the comforter/pillow shams. Oh, and we've come to the conclusion that we need to put a ceiling fan up in the nursery. I just wish we figured that out BEFORE we put a brand new light fixture up there. We had done that during the winter, when it was a bit nippy upstairs... but now that the warm weather is here, the upstairs doesn't get so cool. We have the vent completely open up there, but the room is still so warm. Luckily we bought a white ceiling fan for the other spare bedroom, so we're gonna put that up in the nursery. There's no way I want Aly (and me, or my mom, or Russ's mom) sleeping upstairs if the room is that warm. :-( So now I have ANOTHER project for Russ to do.

Aside from the nursery stuff, we just have to bring the pack and play downstairs and put that together, and figure out the car seat/stroller thing. Russ thinks we can just stick it in the car when I go in labor--- ha! I said, "So uh, you think you're gonna know how to use it right away, huh?!" Men.

Well, I think I'm gonna attempt to coax my husband back upstairs, then try to lay down. Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day. We pretty much celebrated yesterday... Russ had a company party for all his guys at the marina where I used to work. His good buddy owns it now, so he got a great deal on the party. The guys got an "all you can drink beer" deal, and we all got DELICIOUS steak dinners, with potatoes and green beans. It was awesome...though I was really craving a drink! Seeing those guys bringing out buckets of coronas with lime made my mouth water! I can't wait to have a big 'ol Margarita..... :-)

Well, nighty night! (for me, anyway!)

Head down and ready to enter the world.....

This morning was my sonogram and doctor's appointment... LOTS of good news :-)

The sonogram went great... like the title of my post says, baby Aly is head down and ready to enter the world! The lady said "Her head is WAY down there." (Which explains the crazy pressure and sharp pains I've been having alot more of lately!)

I made a guess beforehand of what Alyson's position was in my belly, and I was ALMOST right. I guessed where her head and back/belly were, but got the feet and hands part wrong. Turns out her feet and hands are situated on the left hand side of my belly, not the right side like I've been thinking of all along. I've been having a sharp pain in my right side (rib area) for awhile now, and it's pretty constant. The sonogram lady said that it is because Aly's back is pressing against some of my insides and pushing them over toward my ribs. So who knows WHAT is causing that sharp pain over there! My liver, maybe?!

Anyway, all looked great with Aly. The lady said "She's a perfect little girl." She gave me some pictures of the ultrasound, but darn if I can tell what I'm looking at. One is the face, and I can't even tell if it's a front or side view. Guess Aly's little face will still have to be a surprise!

As for my due date, it's still pretty much the same, June 22nd. Her head measurement estimated the due date to be 6/19, and the femur measurement was 6/23. So basically I'll be due between 6/19 and 6/23, I guess! Aly is measuring in at 6 pounds 3 ounces so far... Diane (US lady) said she will at least put on another pound or so. Guess I'm having a 7-pounder!

After the sonogram, I got weighed and BP taken... my BP was 100/70 and I gained 2 pounds.... though I was SWOLLEN AS HECK in my legs from night turn. I think a pound of that was due to water retention. (yeah, I'll keep telling myself that... lol.)

The doc did my Group B Strep culture today... I wasn't expecting THAT! So I got my butt and my hoo haa swabbed. Fun fun. Then he did a pelvic exam... and I'M 5 cm dilated!

Just kidding.

My cervix is as closed as ever. Nice hard and closed. :-/

Oh well... maybe next week I'll be making some progress. Still 4 weeks to go.

Well, I reeeeeeeally need to get some sleep now. I should have been in bed a long time ago, but I've been wired since I got home. Time to TRY and lay down, so I'm not totally dead for work tonight.

Have a great day today!

Unproductive days...

Currently I'm watching an episode of "Bringing Home Baby" on TLC. (You know, making good use of my afternoon and getting alot accomplished...yeah right.) I'm sitting here thinking how this "Bringing Home Baby" thing is going to be my life....VERY soon.....

I'm just starting to feel so totally overwhelmed. My to-do list hasn't gotten much shorter lately. This whole bathroom construction thing has REALLY screwed my plans up. Not to mention I've only been off one day in between working nights again, so my days off have been spent mostly sleeping. Once the bathroom guys are gone at 5pm, I'm usually in the process of making dinner and trying to spend some time with my husband who I more than likely haven't seen all day... then it gets too late and I'm too tired to do anything. That's how things have gone lately. Ugh.

I have to work tonight and tomorrow night, so that means nothing is getting done until the weekend. Just great.... luckily I am off Friday through Sunday, so I'll have at least Saturday and Sunday to get stuff done--- no people at the house!

(If you can't tell, I hate having people working in the house. Not that I don't like getting things remodeled, but I just wish the whole process could be sped up a little.)

Enough whining... onto some positive news.

Tomorrow at 8:45 I have my final sonogram at the OB doctor's!!! I'll be finding out if Alyson is head down, how big/long she is, etc.... I can't wait! After that, I have my regular weekly appointment to see how everything else is going. I don't know if it's going to be a pelvic exam or just a quickie "how are things going" exam. I hope it's the latter. I just want to get out of there so I can get back home and go to BED. I usually try to schedule my appointments on my day off, but I'm kinda running out of options now being that we're doing the weekly thing.

So anyway... that's my rambling for now. Hopefully I have some upbeat news to report soon, other than my whining about the bathroom guys...lol.

Take care and have a great day :-)

What have you done with sweet laid-back Betsy????

My latest pregnancy symptom....

Third trimester hormonal mood swing BITCHINESS!

LOL!

I just can't help it. I am MOODY AS HELL! I've noticed it more and more over the past few weeks. Things that wouldn't normally get to me just eat away at me until I'm about to scream. Must be the fact that I have twice the girly hormones surging inside my body...?

Like the other day... I could have taken one of my coworkers and slammed her into the wall. Ok, not literally, cause I'm too nice... but I thought about it. (Just imagine one of those movies where the girl character is smiling sweetly at someone while imagining grabbing the person by the hair and shoving her face in some food.) She hasn't been working on our floor very long and thinks she knows it all and that no one but her is perfect.... and well, I set her straight. I wasn't going to sit back while she spread lies about people (myself included) to make herself look good, ya know?!

But anyway... that's the first thing that set me off.

Then you have this morning. You see, we are in the process of getting our upstairs bathroom remodeled before Alyson gets here. The thing is, we talked with the guy MONTHS AGO about getting the ball rolling with this, and he JUST started on the bathroom last week.... and it's not going to be done for a few weeks yet. Granted, we reeeeeally need the bathroom done before Aly gets here, but they couldn't have started at a worse time. This has come at a time where I am trying to get the nursery situated, and I can't even make it up the steps to get INTO the nursery during the weekdays. These guys are here 8-5 pretty much every day of the week (except the weekends, thank goodness), so I get ABSOLUTELY NOTHING done during the day.... which then puts me in a foul mood. My days off are spent stuck downstairs WISHING I could make it upstairs to get to the nursery... but alas, there are boxes and tools and everything else sprawled out all over the hallway. Grr.

So this morning, I figured I'd try to put myself in a better mood by getting some last-minute baby stuff bought. I got a few nighties for the hospital, along with some cute baby clothes (couldn't resist), baby headbands, a bib that says "I love my daddy", a bottle brush, dishwasher basket for washing bottle parts/pacifiers/etc... all in all I spent over an hour shopping. I got home around 9:15am.

(Hormonal bitchy rage grows)

I go to pull in my driveway and the guys working on the bathroom have taken up my whole driveway with their pickup truck and trailer. I was SEETHING by this point, especially since my husband specifically told them DO NOT block the driveway, because "my wife is pregnant, about to pop,(lol) and I don't want her to have to park down by my garage and walk up the hill to the house." They know I work steady nights and that I'm bound to be home SOMETIME, yet they take the only available parking spot in front of my house. I would have sucked it up and parked nextdoor at the neighbors house (our good friends, so they wouldn't mind) but I was TICKED because I had a trunk full of groceries and baby stuff to haul into the house.
I made my pissedoffedness (yeah, I make up words sometimes) known by purposely banging the front door around and tossing some of my bags on the floor. (How dare they make a pregnant girl walk that far to her own house with handfuls of groceries!!)

Then it happened. On my second trip into the house, I FELL. Shouting some select words, the guys HAD to sense I was ticked. They said, "You need help down there?" and I gritted my teeth, got up off my knees (which still hurt, by the way) and said, "No. I'm fine." First thing I did when I got in the house was call my husband and tell him, "You need to talk to these guys about this parking in the driveway thing. I just fell on my f****** knees on the way into the house because I can't park in my own f****** driveway!!!" Russ called them right way and reemed them out.

(Yeah, you're probably thinking, "What a crazy prego!" right about now, aren't you?!)

The thing is, I never act like this. I don't usually get so ticked off about things. I'm generally a calm, laid back type of person, but not lately! It's like some crazy
person has temporarily taken over my body... I'm waiting for my head to start spinning around soon. LOL. Man, I can't wait til this hormonal phase is over! You would have laughed if you saw me this morning when I got home. It's funny to think about now, but maaaaaaaaaaan was my blood boiling earlier.

I'm settled down now though.

Moral of the story... don't tick a pregnant girl off. You never know what might happen.