Pain - YIKES!

So I woke up in the middle of the night on Sunday night to shooting pain in my left ribs and back - uh! I skipped the pool and headed to the doctor who confirmed what I thought the problem was - the mostly likely culprit - a pulled muscle - SO SORE! Needless to say that yesterday was probably the most uncomfortable day I've had during the pregnancy - between the pulled muscle and the baby taking extra kickboxing punches on my right ribs I felt like I had been beat up. I forgot how much you use your "core" muscles for - rolling over in bed (probably what caused this nice pain in the first place!), leaning, getting in and out of the car, the list goes on and on - swimming this morning I could feel the muscle stretching out but I didn't push it - slowed my pace and only did about 800 yards and only freestyle and breast stroke - no butterfly for sure!

Hitting 33 weeks tomorrow I got to cancel my doctors appointment next week after yesterday's surprise visit and once I hit 36 weeks (1/21) I'll be going for weekly checks. Doctor had me start doing kick counts - making sure a few times a day I get at least 10 kicks in a one hour time frame.

Happy new year if I don't post again!!!

Week 32 - Merry 1/2 Christmas to the baby

So this year's Christmas was marked by both mine and the baby's first fried turkey experience - nothing caught fire or blew up and the turkey was great!!! We went to church on Christmas eve with our friends & neighbors the Krears then went to bed watching the Pope's service from the Vatican - such a beautiful place! We woke on Christmas morning went for a walk, (Chris got to run - no fair!) then had breakfast and opened presents. We had Christmas dinner with the Krear's next door where Abbie Krear serenaded us with a song she wrote!!! To work off the fried turkey and other amazing goodies we consumed we broke out the Wii and had a bowling tournament - so much fun!

We got to visit with Nana on Friday and her only advice to me (after 8 kids herself) "Don't be nervous" - oh great! So the next time I see her she'll either have three great grand daughters or have her first great grand son....make sure to get your bets in!

The baby is kicking away like crazy - more so right before I go to bed - right after I get comfortable when I lay down. The head is still up by my right ribs and with the weight and size it's gaining everyday there are some moments that are becoming just plain uncomfortable. Uh!

It's crazy to think that next year at this time we'll have a 10 month old making it's away around the house...we'll have to rethink some of the decorations we put out for sure and all breakable tree ornaments will either stay in the box for a year or so or be place really high on the tree!!

Baby's first Christmas ~ sort of!

So the baby is already being represented on the tree! Thanks Melissa!!!!

Week 31 ~ December 17th

What the experts say is going on in there....

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. It weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. It can turn its head from side to side, and the arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath the skin. It's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Not much to report this week - baby still trying to push out of the right side of my belly - it's so lop-sided. I told Chris the other night that the movements are really starting to be significant - sort of feels like a mini-earth quake when the big rolls/flips happen! Swimming is still making my swelling managable and I'm looking forward to taking full advantage of all the holiday goodies that are around this time of year!

I'm amazed at how much I really have to "adapt" to doing things - simple things like getting down to check the water in the Christmas tree stand or getting up from laying on the couch - it's like a mass production to get my momentum going...then other times I'm just fine. Thinking back to when we were at the Cape and rented a car - gosh it was 10 weeks ago - there were times I couldn't get out of the car without a push - now if I had to get in and out of it I probably would rethink my choice of vehicle. Thankfully both Chris and I have SUV's so it's just a matter of stepping up and using the handles whenever possible. That's all for this week...thinking about next Christmas when we'll have 10 month old and wondering what decorations I will dare put out!

Week 30 ~ December 10th

I can honestly say I never had heartburn or nose bleeds before pregnancy - now - heartburn is like an every other hour occurance and nose bleeds - about every other day - uh! I'm hoping once the baby turns a bit the heartburn might subside just a little - right now the head is just under my stomach so every time the baby moves I know I'm getting ready for a nice dose of heartburn.

Still swimming every morning - my endurance has improved from what it was when I started four weeks ago - I now do about 1000 yards every morning, which comparing that back to my competitive swimming days is not much but for me right now - I might as well be running about 4 miles - that's about how I feel when I get out of the pool and this morning I actually was able to do full butterfly - only about 25 yards of it but still - my shoulder muscles were burning after that! What is nice though is my swelling goes down after my swim and I feel about as relaxed as when I get a massage so I'm determined to continue my early morning swims as long as possible.

My tiredness that I had during the first trimester seems to be coming back - by 3:00 in the afternoon I'm shot and going to bed after 10:00 makes me wake up groggy. Thankfully I'm sleeping ok (knock on wood) - I've managed to find a comfortable position thanks to all the pillows in the bed.

My email mailbox had my week 30 write up waiting for me this morning - I can't believe I only have 10 weeks left!!!!....the baby is about 15.7 inches long now, and weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds it, but that volume will decrease as it gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. The eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after birth, the baby will keep its eyes closed for a good part of the day. When it does open them, it will respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means it can only make out objects a few inches from its face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Monday, December 8th - itchy....

Had my regular 2 week interval doctors appointment this morning - saw Dr Buckley who is probably my favorite one to see of the five at the practice - he's very calming and informative. I realized as I was checking out that I've only seen 3 of the five doctors at the practice so my next two appointments are with the other two doctors - I have to see all of them because they have no way of knowing which one will be on duty when I go into labor. Two of the ones I have seen are pregnant themselves - a bit behind me but I think it's nice to know they know first hand what I'm going through!

My stats from this appointment - baby's heart beat is going strong at about 140 bpm - my blood pressure was high when they first took it but upon a recheck, it was at my normal "pregnancy level" which has been a bit high for me but still normal (as I usually - prepregancy - have a low blood pressure). He said the numb fingertips are probably from a pinched nerve due to my swollen arms/hands and again is nothing to worry about until after the baby arrives and it's still around. Also he gave me some recommendations for some decongestants because I've had a stuffy nose since conception! Hopefully they will help the noise level of my snoring - Chris has been such a good sport and has lived with ear plugs since about week 20. The doctor laughed and said that this was one of the most common complaints and that it too would all go back to normal after the baby's arrival.

Got the go-ahead to eat as I wish for the holidays since my glucose test came back good - YEAH! Cookies here I come!!! I weighed myself this morning after swimming and our scale at home said I had gained 10 lbs since my last visit - I was SOOOO relieved to step on their scale and find I had only gained 2 lbs since the last visit 2 weeks ago which is right on target for what they told me (1 lb every week till the baby arrives). After telling Chris about this he said that he knew the scale at home was broken - wish he had told me! I was wondering how 10 extra lbs could be on my body and me not notice - I mean something would have to be fitting different for 10 lbs! I know that's why my blood pressure was up - I was so excited that it was 2 instead of 10!!!!



The cold weather has brought with it my usual dry winter skin and the pregancy 'stretching' is making me itch like I have poison ivy. Of course it's my back and shoulders that are itching - where I can't get lotion to - oh well - I've just put my disney back scratcher in my purse and I carry it at all times - a bit cumbersome but very helpful!

Oh! Also, I came home to a box fully of goodies from an old college friend Helen on Friday - we have a bunch of bath stuff now....slowly I feel like we are getting prepared - I think the only other "necessity" thing we need to go and get is the car seat well, and clothes, etc. It's amazing how much I feel like we have already accumulated but looking at the lists of what you should have - we are nowhere near ready! Thankfully my pregnancy hormones I think have taken away my panic as I have this really non-worrisome attitude towards it all. I'm thinking my panic will hit in the upcoming weeks - hopefully Chris will be able to calm me down!

Busy 29th week ~ December 6th

So this week we hit week 29...baby is somewhere around 15 inches long and about 2 1/2 lbs - althought I've been feeling "creature" kick and move for about 11 weeks now, this week I could SEE it move. It's been "twitching" for the past couple weeks - I'd catch a bit of movement out of the corner of my eye during the day - however, this week there has been lots of VERY noticable twitches and kicks. Thursday night I got a front and center kick that was about 1/2 inch high and then when I moved to laying on my side - I had either an elbow or a knee or what could have been a foot or hand, creeping along the side of my belly for about 30 minutes. So cool!

All this came after my last yoga class that Chris came with me to. We learned a bunch of partner positions and Chris did REALLY good - he only laughed for about the first five minutes!

Today we got to go see the baby on 3D ultra sound. I've got a bunch of pictures posted below - so cute! The head is up under my right ribs - butt down at my left hip and facing my back - feet are way up by the face and Teddy was holding onto them for most of the time. He/she was stretching out its toes and fingers - long fingers and pudgy arms! It's not in the ideal birthing position so we are hoping that it reorients itself in the upcoming weeks. The lady doing the scan didn't think we would get to see the face so she was going to have us come back but low and behold - it turned and stretched a bit and we got some great face views. We also got a DVD of the entire session which ended up being almost a hour! We saw a few yawns and the eyes were open a bit - lots and lots of movement going on - it still amazes me that I can't feel a lot of it and what I am feeling must be huge energy exertions for the baby.

Chris liked the place immediately - they had the special parking spots he likes taking advantage of!



Middle of a yawn...mouth open



Our favorite shot of the 90+ pictures - so cute! All snuggled up! Cute ski-jump nose!



Feet up at the face! So flexible - Chris was amazed it could be in this postion - he just kept saying that it couldn't be comfortable!



Showing us it's long fingers and cute feet!




The heart beat - so neat to see all the chambers pumping away while listening to it beat and watching the chart of the beating...



One of the last shots before it curled back up and turned back to my back...bye, bye for about 11 more weeks ~





For all of those who are still trying to guess - we didn't post any pictures that you can see anything to distinguish the sex - however we can say we confirmed 100% what the sex is...I started to worry that a second opinion wasn't a bad idea!

YEAH! Glucose test is NORMAL!

So no more testing needed - my glucose test from last week came back normal which is great - no gestational diabetes - whew! I started doing my typically worrying - "did I take the drink at the right time?", "did I eat the right food the day before and the morning of?" - I figured it would be my luck they would get an inconclusive reading and I would have to redo the test!

Happy Turkey Day

So "creature" as I've been calling the baby is moving around like crazy and just par-took in it's first Thanksgiving. Thankfully it did not cause me any avulsions to turkey or any other goodies this weekend and I hope that when it joins us in the outside world it loves Thanksgiving as much as I do! We had a wonderful day with mom, dad, josh and uncle geoff and aunt donna. I ate way to much but loved every minute of it as always! And I could not have pulled it off this year without my mom in the kitchen - my finger/hand strength is so bad - there is no way that I could have cut any potatoes or squash let alone get the turkey in and out of the oven - so THANKS mom!!!!!



So creature pulled the same thing it used to do for Chris for my dad - mom felt it move quite a few times - every time dad tried - no movement! One of my distant cousins and his wife are also expecting - I think she is about three weeks ahead of me...she told mom recently she had been having some braxton-hicks contractions - mom asked me if I've had any and I said nope! Upon doing a bit of research I not only discovered I am having them but have been having them for quite some time! One of the things that can bring them on is exercise and that is when I normally feel them. I can remember back to before I felt the baby even move (and that was week 18) having that tight sensation that a few of the books described. Now, it's mostly after I swim but they also seem to happen during the day when creature is moving all over the place.

The nursery is just about done - dad and Chris put up the ceiling fan and other than the oh-so-comfortable chair (that I know we'll be spending lots of time in) is on its way things are just about done. We've got a great START in the clothes department and mom brought a bunch of my old stuff down this weekend - sweaters, booties and hats that people made for me when I was a baby. ALSO - our stroller is on the way - YEAH! My BOB stroller - I'm so excited!!!!

Just waiting for my glucose testing results now...fingers crossed those come back just like all my other tests - good and normal! We get to do our 3D ultra sound this weekend - they said since we are so far along we should get some really great pictures - I'm so excited!!!