39 weeks

A whopping 4 days remaining until my due date (which is a pretty accurate due date, I think, based on LMP and ultrasounds and whatnot). No labor signs yet that I know of - generally painless Braxton Hicks contractions every once in a while, but not with any regularity. I have an appointment this afternoon, just to check heartbeat and size, but I don't expect anything to come of it. I'm mentally committed to turning down all induction methods and fetal monitoring until at least 42 weeks (unless something changes, of course), so there's really not much to do but wait.

I feel like my life is on hold waiting for this baby, which is how it's supposed to be I guess. I have basically nothing to do at work, and I'm too awkward to do much at home since everything that needs to be done is manual labor related. The nursery stuff is set up, the clothes are all washed and put away. The house is fairly clean and at least a couple weeks worth of meals are in the freezer (especially if, by meals, I mean cookies).

Here's a pic of me at 39.5 weeks. This is Wilson's shirt and I am unable to keep the buttons buttoned. Also I put on sweatpants immediately after taking this photo. 

Also I left work early. It's nap time. 

36 weeks

Another bathroom belly pic. This is partly because there's a mirror in there and partly because I'm in there A THOUSAND TIMES A DAY.

I'm a little afraid to say how much weight I've gained as of week 36, but since I went to the doctor today, I guess I should be honest and admit that I'm up 32 pounds! At 32 weeks, Sunny Meadow's ultrasound estimated him at 4.6 pounds which seems like a hefty premie to me - the thinger puts that in the 65th %ile. With Sam, I was at 155 pounds at this point, so I'm not over by too too much, but I did gain TEN MORE POUNDS in the last month with her, so that's not something to look forward to.

Part of the reason I'm packing it on is probably because I'm eating whatever I want. This is my last go around being pregnant (hopefully), so I'm going to gosh darned enjoy it. Doughnuts, cookie dough, CAKE, second helpings, and 9pm bowls of cereal are all fair game.

In preparation for the birth and homecoming of Baby#2, we've been looking at pics from Sam's arrival. I thought you might enjoy some of those too. She looked like such a little frog.

33 weeks

49 days to go, folks.

Here are some updates on the important things.

Sunny Meadow's Heart:
Our follow up ultrasound with maternal fetal medicine at the Children's Hospital went as well as it could have. The tech looked at the heart for what seemed like forever, and when we consulted with the doctor, she was highly reassuring that his heart is just working it out, and that he'll be fine at birth or shortly thereafter. There are no structural issues - he's just having trouble keeping a rhythm going. So we're not so worried anymore. Also, he had the hiccups during the ultrasound (and has them now, incidentally) and it's really tough to watch a fetus with the hiccups AND an irregular heartbeat. You just feel so bad for the poor guy.

Food:
Food and I have been getting along famously. I haven't run into anything lately that I haven't liked. Everything tastes good, and I have been eating a lot. My favorites have been vanilla granola, frozen cookie dough, bagels with cream cheese, and apple juice. No real cravings lately, just a general taste for...well...everything.

Weight:
Despite the food situation, I'm holding steady on weight gain, thankfully. I get out of breath walking to and from the car, so I need to keep the weight down just to make it through the next few weeks. BabyCenter says I'm right on track.

Brain (mine):

I am getting a touch crazier, I think. I cried in the car last week when the Mumford & Sons guy's version of The Boxer came on the radio, and I think I've picked up every accessory in our home and moved it to a new location. I also can't seem to stop washing all the baby things, even though I know they'll get cat fur and dust on them between now and 2 months from now. 

Work wise, I'm feeling pretty checked out. I need to start transitioning my stuff to other people so that I can mostly take off the last couple weeks prior to my due date, but it's hard to relinquish control of things, especially knowing that it'll all be messed up when I get back. Last time, I hardly passed anything to anyone - I just left and came back to it three months later. I'd like to do a bit better this time, and perhaps get some things off my plate permanently. 

31.5 weeks

Here's a belly shot from Thursday in the work bathroom. I don't think I look that big, but people have already started suggesting that I'm going to deliver next week. I'm up about 22 pounds but that has held steady for a few weeks now. I feel like my weight gain has been good and I hope to only gain another 8-10 before my due date. Of course if I go late, I fully expect to put on ten pounds of misery weight fueled mostly by carbs and cookie dough.

Accent belt!

While Wilson was out of town this week, I had a pretty solid scare when my regular midwife appointment discovered an arrhythmia in the baby's heartbeat. She immediately referred me to the hospital and I spent several hours hooked up to the heartbeat machine with Sam in tow, stuffing herself on graham crackers and watching cable. The diagnosis turned out to be fetal PAC, which is a somewhat common and usually benign heart thing. It will likely resolve itself before birth or shortly thereafter, but of course, now we're gonna worry about it for two months. All things considered though, I'm very thankful that it isn't something more serious. And I'm thankful that Wilson is home, hopefully for the remainder of this pregnancy. 

23 weeks (and chickens!)

Feeling pretty crummy this week since I've come down with a summer cold. Not being able to breathe at night coupled with not being able to roll over or find a comfortable position has made my sleep terrible and I'm really worn out this morning. Wilson assures me that it'll start getting better quickly, so here's hoping for that.

Despite the family illness we did manage to get many things accomplished this weekend around the house, including one thing we've been prepping for months - the chickens!

Wilson built the coop out of almost exclusively materials we demo'd from our TV room renovation (plus some latches and hinges from spares in the basement. We did have to buy the chicken wire for the run, and the slats for the frame, and a big piece of pink foam insulation for the inside, but all told I think we spent less than $50 on the coop. I'll admit I got a bit carried away at Tractor Supply on Saturday and spent over $100 on the feeder, waterer, food and bedding (and a kids puzzle book with a chicken theme that somehow ended up in the cart).

We bought our chickens at Poultry Hollow Hatchery, which is about 45 minutes from Nashville in a really pretty part of middle Tennessee. The farm itself was super disorganized and understaffed, but the people were actually really nice and the chickens were well taken care of and the selection was pretty good. We didn't mind messing around the farm for a while until someone could help us get our silly small order filled (they had all kinds of livestock: a donkey, an alpaca, peacocks and crazy birds galore). We opted for three different birds: an Ameraucana (the light brown one), a Rhode Island Red (the dark brownish reddish one), and a Barred Rock (the black and white spotted one). They're all supposed to be good urban layers and relatively friendly. Ours are between 9-10 weeks old and should theoretically start laying around 20-22 weeks, assuming they are actually ladies (I'm not yet convinced).

Sam is pretty into the chickens, though we're all still a bit nervous about holding them - we haven't clipped their wings yet so they're a potential flight risk. Also, they are DUMB. Like, really dumb. I'll have lots of examples of that shortly, I'm sure.

Week 20

Technically 20 weeks, 3 days, which puts us right smack at the exactly the halfway point.

With just over 4 months to go, I feel both over-prepared and under-prepared. Last night we set up the crib (which I painted white over the last couple of days, much to Wilson's confusion), so that's a big check off the list. However, our next door neighbor asked to borrow some of our baby stuff since they have a visiting baby in a couple weeks, and I panicked that I didn't own a single thing she needed. And if she needs it for a visiting baby, I guess I probably need it for a permanent baby. So to calm a bit of anxiety, I started an Amazon Baby Registry (link in the sidebar).

I feel good, up about 5 pounds, noticeably pregnant, mostly wearing elastic waist skirts, feeling kicks every now and then (but not as often as I'd like, and not nearly as often as with Sam). We found out the baby is a BOY - did I mention that yet?

I will now share a conversation that Wilson just had with Sam.

S: Dada, help me get my sock on.
W: I would be happy to.
S: Dada?
W: Yes?
S: You're the best.
W: Aww, that is really sweet, Sam. Thank you.
S: Why did you say 'Thank you'?
W: Because you complimented me. You said something very nice and so I said 'Thank you.'
S: Ummm. Then you say something nice.
W: So you can practice saying "Thank you'?
S: Sure. Here we go. Dada, you're the best.
W: That is sweet, Sam. Thank you.
S: Okay. Now you.
W: Sam, I think you are a really really great kid.
S: I know I am. [Leaves room.]

Week 13

Which is really almost over, amazingly.

Still nothing very interesting happening. Though I'm eating constantly, I haven't gained any weight. I look super pregnant, but just from rearrangement of insides and not from a real taut baby bump. No actual popping to speak of yet. I'm still sick and tired, but only about every other day, which is half as bad as before. I told my boss and HR at work, but no one else yet. I've seen a couple people eyeing my belly suspiciously though, so I don't think I'll get to stay in the dark much longer.

I thought I'd share my list of Yes/No Testing that I brought to my first prenatal appointment. Last pregnancy I did almost all the basic testing they offered because I though you had to and I didn't really know what I was doing. I turns out, for me at least, that all those tests just caused me more anxiety instead of easing my mind, and I decided this time that I would attempt to really think through all the testing and determine if each individual test made sense for me/us. I'm going to a different midwife group this time (still associated with Vanderbilt and still delivering babies in the hospital), and they seemed to be a bit more laid back so I thought I'd give my "low-care" plan a shot with them.

Lucky for me, my midwife not only supported my decisions, but actually suggested them even before I did! I was thrilled, and am actually looking forward to my next visit and will have a 2nd Trimester Yes/No sheet for that. Of course, the best laid plans often go astray, and that will be most likely once I'm in the hospital and can't defend or explain my choices due to pain and general craziness. Wilson will help with that, and hopefully a solid relationship with my midwife will help this time too. My next appointment is 7 weeks from my first one (way better than the standard 4 week visit requirement), and I'll be something like 18 weeks then.

Week 11

Well, that was an unpleasant 24 hours.

I scheduled my first prenatal appointment earlier than I wanted to because I needed to get a release from my midwife for the Avon Walk - it was yesterday at 11.5 weeks instead of 13-15 like I would have preferred. The visit went just fine, but at the end when she tried to find the heartbeat with the doppler, she couldn't. I was pretty torn up. I heard Sam's by doppler at 9 weeks or so and 11 weeks seemed like a normal time to hear it and she tried for quite a long time so I was just - concerned. My nasty symptoms have been fading slowly over the last few days and that added to my nervousness. And so with some urging from Wilson, I went ahead and scheduled an ultrasound for this morning just so we wouldn't have to wait in agony until my next appointment.

I was excruciatingly anxious walking in to the appointment this morning. I had prepared myself for the worst. And though I know it wouldn't be tragic or really that big of a deal, hearing bad news would still mean that we would have to start over from the beginning and that is just a lot to bear. So when the tech said, "there's the heartbeat" first, I was so insanely relieved and not even really sure how to behave.

Everything else was fine. Heartbeat of 167, measuring 11 weeks 1 day, squirming around a looking very baby-like. Not a great start to my low-prenatal-care pregnancy, but hey, I'll take it.

Week 10

I guess I'll never post if I wait until there's something interesting to post about the babai, because NOTHING HAPPENS DURING THE FIRST TRIMESTER. Except nausea. Ugh. Glad to get that out of the way.

In other news:

Sam had her first visit to the dentist. It started off pretty bad, but our really awesome hygienist somehow broke through her sour mood and got in a brief cleaning. By the end, Sam was asking to go back the next day.

I may have kind of forgotten that the Easter Bunny was a thing. I may "forget" again next year. But I really wanted to get Sam roller skates because she's been asking to go roller skating for weeks, so I called these her Easter Bunny present in my head. Because what kind of mother just gets her kid a present for the heck of it?

Our first prenatal appointment is next week on Wednesday. Doubtful that there will be much more to report after that, but I'm sure I'll check in.

Week 8

Hmm. What to say about Week 8? All I can really think to talk about is food, since my relationship with it is currently so tenuous. I'm not having the all out all day death, but I do have some ups and downs throughout the day. Currently on the yes list: all cold fresh fruit (oranges, strawberries, grapes, Granny Smith apples), bagels with cream cheese, pickles, and anything you might find on a kids menu. Currently on the big fat no list: mushrooms, smelly cheeses, tomato anything, flavors in general.

Surprisingly, I was able to survive and actually enjoy a special fancy 10 course tasting menu dinner last night with Alison at The Catbird Seat. I had a great time, despite my unfortunate non-alcoholic pairing. Here's the menu.

Week 6

I didn't do anything in Week 6. Except have major meltdowns and be mean to my husband. And Sam and I visited home to tell my parents the news. I think it's safe to say they were pleased. Also, Wilson told all his NoCodys friends which is probably fine. I was feeling bad that I wouldn't let him tell anyone.

Here's a pic of Sam and Grandpa.

Week 5

Here we are in Week 5. Nothing to report. Too early to do anything, really. Other than wait. Sigh.

Week 4

Here we go again. Can anyone see this? The internet is such a mystery to me.