Two steps forward, one step back {39 weeks + 4}

This week has been the longest week ever and it's only Thursday! I kind of feel like I've physically been moving away from my due date while time keeps marching on. A lot of the swelling and lack of mobility I was feeling last week has gone away. I feel the same as I felt three weeks ago, except for being a larger size. I can even keep up when I'm walking with a non-3rd-trimester-ly pregnant person. Bah. It also feels like baby McNeill will 'yo-yo' up and down, one day she'll be descending really low in my pelvis and my back will ache, won't be able to walk or clean etc, and the next day that will all disappear and she'll be back up towards my ribs.
Around this time last week, I was feeling the definite possibility that we would have a baby by the weekend. Now, I'm pretty dang sure she'll be as late as she wants to be!
(This is actually a good thing, since my sister is going to Texas to visit her in-laws and won't be back until Tuesday night of next week)

I had my midwife appt on Monday and everything looked great. Baby's heartbeat sounded good, my belly is measuring right on schedule. I thought it was pretty funny, Diane said I should take a picture of my belly bump so I could look back and remember this time. Already ahead of you, Diane! :-D
I also asked her about a birthing tub to take home with me so I could labor in water for part of my birthing time. I don't want to have a water birth or anything, but reading others' experiences and having seen my sister's labor, I can see being in water can majorly relieve pressure waves (contractions) as well as lower back pain (which I am fully expecting when my birthing time starts). Diane gave me the name and phone number of one of her clients who still had the tub who very conveniently lives in Provo, and they were awesome enough to drop it off at our house last night! (We were worried how we were going to transport it since it is HUGE and our little cars are not, so much) So now we've got the tub. As to how we'll fill it, we're pretty clueless, but we have the tub!!

On Tuesday my sister treated me to a pedicure as a late birthday present. We went to the Chateau Salon in Lehi where I took her for pedicures two days before her due date. We had a lovely time and I'm so grateful for pretty toes for spring, especially when there is NO WAY I am reaching down that far right now. Seriously, remember how the only thing I put on my feet are flip flops? Yeah. Painting toes is out of the question.

Yesterday I had to reconcile myself to the fact that I really need to stop expecting the baby to come at any second and resume exercising! I learned pretty early on in my pregnancy that exercise is really, really good for the baby, even if it's just walking for 20 to 30 minutes. It provides a bigger and more healthy placenta and helps the baby develop the way it needs to. I wasn't too great at exercising regularly while I had my 8-5 job (seriously, who makes time to exercise when they have to be out of the house by 7:30??? Ummm don't answer that question) but once I quit my job mid-February, I finally had time to do the pregnancy workouts by Tracy Anderson I had purchased months previous. I'll admit, I didn't do the workouts nearly as often as I probably should have but I am so grateful I did have something vigorous I could do when I had the energy. Thanks to my cousin Lynnae for suggesting the videos!
Anyway, after last Tuesday, I kind of mentally put the workouts on the shelf, so to speak, because I didn't expect I'd be able to do them until the baby came. I also didn't go on any walks or move much because of this mentality. I had been in a lot of discomfort last Tuesday and wanted to take it as easy as possible. Well, yesterday I was feeling pretty low. I hadn't worked out in a couple of weeks, I had energy and the ability to go about my life normally but didn't really want to accept it since I wanted and expected my baby to come! Fortunately I was able to define where my negative feelings were coming from and did exercise and take a long walk yesterday. I felt SO much better after that. I just have to accept that I need to have a normal routine for a few more weeks a little bit longer until the baby really does come. Patience!!

 HUGE birthing tub

 Freshly pedicured toes. Swollen toes as well.

I had to post this...it's a baby mop for baby McNeill. If you have seen the Invention Convention episode from Raising Hope (Bro-gurt) you'll understand why this is AN AMAZING GIFT!!! I did not even know these existed! It made me soooooo happy...thank you so much Lindsey!!!

39 Weeks - Almost!!

Tomorrow I will hit 39 weeks (wow!) and boy do I feel it! I still think I've had a pretty easy pregnancy so far, but ohhh I'm so heavy. My feet are so swollen...as well as the rest of me, but you can really see it in my feet, fingers and face. I definitely waddle now and walk a lot slower! I have to admit though - I enjoy being this pregnant. Some of my favorite things are:

1. Feeling her move deep down in my pelvis

2. Playing with her feet, which are usually on the left side of my belly

3. Having people stare at my large size - for some reason it feels validating!

4. Always being in flip flops and not caring a bit

5. Imagining how it will be to dress her in all her cute cute clothes

Even though the due date is April 20th, at this point I wouldn't mind if she went over, which is something she'll probably do anyway according to statistics for first time moms. The reason I'm more than happy with a later due date is because of a little scare we had on Tuesday. Before I go into what happened, it's important to know that Todd and I are planning on having a home birth with our midwife, Diane. We also took a Hypnobabies class in January which we absolutely loved and if you're curious about it, I very much recommend learning about it here. I woke up Tuesday with an achy, sore lower back and, after a hot shower, promptly got sick. A lot. I felt fine before and after, it was just really sudden and random. I kind of freaked out afterwards, knowing that your body sometimes will do that when it is preparing for labor. I didn't feel ready!
The whole rest of the day my mobility slowed drastically, I couldn't eat anything more than a couple of tomatoes (one in the afternoon and one at around 8pm), the pain in my lower back increased and I started having contractions (pressure waves) which, looking back, were probably Braxton Hicks since they didn't hurt. Nothing seemed to hurt except for my back. I ran to Wal-Mart with a friend for last minute supplies I needed that I had been putting off for the birth. After getting home at about six, I was in tears, mostly because I was panicked rather than the increasing pain I was in. I went to lie down on the couch, put on some Hypnobabies tracks and immediately was able to focus a lot more.
At this point I had called Todd and told him to come home from work and our amazing friends (we'll call them the Js) stayed to fix dinner and to make sure I wasn't alone. I had also let Diane know what was going on and she told me to tell her when my contractions were 5 min apart and about 1 min long. Since I couldn't really tell when the pressure waves were starting or stopping because of my back pain, I finally just called her at around 10:30pm, panicking again. I had NO CLUE what was going on with me! She said she'd come over and check me, which I was sooo relieved to hear.

When she got there, we found out that I had not dilated, but that the baby had descended to a -1 station. At that point, instead of being upset that the entire day hadn't resulted in dilation progress, I was so exhausted and tired that I was happy I could just go to bed and rest!
The next morning when I got up I was surprised to find that the back pain had completely disappeared, and in fact, everything was back to normal. I was tired but back to my normal self. Aaaaand that's how it's been since! I'm pretty sure I would have been fine had my birthing time actually started that day, but honestly I am so grateful for the chance to enjoy my pregnancy for a little longer, be it one week or three. Todd and I have been enjoying time together, time with friends and family and just hanging out before our precious little baby arrives.

And now. The stats!

How far along? 38 weeks 6 days! (We'll just say 39 weeks)

How big is baby? Probably around 7 ish lbs, if not more.

Maternity clothes? All that I wear these days, and some don't even fit anymore.

Stretch marks: YEP! I wanted to test and see if I could prevent them by oiling and lotioning my belly often since early in my pregnancy, or if it really is just genetics. Well I am here to tell you it is GENETICS! I never had a chance..haha

Sleep: I get up at least three times every night, but I am able to sleep surprisingly well. Thank goodness...I'm gonna need the rest for after she gets here.

Best moment this week: I have honestly had so many amazing moments this week...my mom coming over to make sure I was ok, friends staying for dinner (or overnight!!), date night with my cousin and her husband. Quiet moments where it was just me and baby. Being with Todd and feeling like the luckiest person in the world for having him as my husband. 

Movement: More movement than usual! It's like she's really excited to finally see what's going on around her instead of just hearing it! I love love love playing with her feet, which I know I've already mentioned but it is so fun and I really feel like we are bonding.

Food cravings: Jalapeno Cheetos, pineapple and Life cereal...

Food aversions: Sugar...always sugar. :-(

Gender: Girl

Labor signs: Absolutely nothing other than whatever was going on on Tuesday. Other than some Braxton Hicks here and there.

Symptoms: Feeling a lot of pressure and discomfort in my pelvis, very crazy dreams, feet swelling up

Weight gain: 45 lbs!!! Not sure why I'm so excited to share that all over the internet...

Belly Button in or out? Half and half! Mostly out though.

What I miss: Sleeping on my back, wearing my wedding ring, eating ice cream

What I am looking forward to: Being able to lean back on a sofa or chair and not have to struggle to breathe, being able to bend down without feeling like I'm going to pull something

Upcoming appointments/events: I have a midwife appt on Monday, I went to a bridal shower today (which was so perfect!!) and my cousin is speaking in her ward tomorrow morning. I don't think I have anymore commitments after that. I'm excited.

This was a mammoth of a post and if you're still reading, thank you and sorry for the grammar mistakes!

 

Pictures taken this morning:

Compared with two weeks ago, I've gotten bigger:

Spending time with my sister and my adorable niece:

Reaching a Goal

Here I am, finally posting in the blog I've told myself I would start for weeks! I am absolutely obsessed with stalking reading blog posts that have anything to do with babies and/or pregnancy. In fact, one of my favorite things to do nowadays is search for how many weeks along I am in pregnancy with the word 'blog' after it, and hit search. The result: a long list of women blogging about how their pregnancies are going, at the same stage as me!
Honestly, though, the biggest reason I've wanted to start blogging is so that I can have a place to post unlimited pictures of my sweet baby and keep track of how she's doing and milestones she'll be reaching, as well as other experiences my family and I have. I'll admit, until this baby is born, this blog will probably be all about how this pregnancy is going...so follow if you're interested! I have had 'make a blog' as an item on my Baby Prep list, so I can cross it off now...although I still have a longgggg way to go as far as making it look pretty and customizing it, etc. Anyone volunteer to help show me the blogging ropes!?

My Baby Prep list:
-Clear out/organize loft
-Clean stairs
-Make frozen dinners (A BIG thanks to my sisters-in-law Amy and Monica!!!)
-Wash baby clothes
-Set up baby equipment(except for the car seats...ahem...)
-Buy all birthing supplies
-Make blog
-Make places for all baby gifts
-Write Thank You notes for baby gifts
-Figure out what else we still need to get for baby

There's probably tons left to do that I can't think of right now, but we're probably pretty close to being ready for her...which is a good thing since we're down to the wire, me being 38+6 weeks along! I will be posting on this pregnancy tomorrow which will include the kind of stats that I've been so obsessed with lately...