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Oh, Baby!

Bumpday – 34 weeks (contest!)

Feb 22nd, 2012
by gazelle.
17 comments

You have to read this whole post in order to get to the contest part. (Or, I suppose you can just scroll to the end.) Six weeks from tomorrow will be my absolute last day of work! And, if there is no baby then, there soon will be! Six weeks is not very long, is it?

I have decided that pregnancy is like a marathon. I have not completely worked through this metaphor, but I can tell you that I am totally at mile 20 & hitting the wall. I mean, I’m close enough to the end that I know I’ll make it at this point, but holy hell, I know that the next six miles (weeks?) are going to be the most painful/uncomfortable/tiring.

Baby size: Alvie is the size of a durian! At less than two months to go, he weighs in at between 4.2 pounds to 5.8 pounds and measures about between 7.2 to 18.7 inches.

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I’m feeling: Tired, although pretty good today, actually. I know that sleep will be fleeting for the first few weeks/months post-partum, but I am looking forward to it not hurting to roll over anymore!

Physical changes: Alvie is starting to drop a bit, which is making breathing a LOT easier, but is making peeing a LOT more frequent. The last couple of nights, I was up 6 & 5 times respectively. I can’t even count how many times during the day. I am also extremely thirsty ALL THE TIME. Oh – and the heartburn that hasn’t been bothering me much this whole pregnancy? It has arrived. With a vengeance.

Baby stuff: He is just packing on the pounds now. Also, according to my weekly fetus update, he’s peeing about a pint a day at this point! I am so glad that I can share that kind of information with you!

Body Image: Fine – as long as I don’t think about weight. I am starting to get a few stretchmarks, but since I already had so many from when I got fat, I don’t think it will make a huge difference in the long run.

Food stuff: Food aversions are starting to return. The other night, I was going to have a sip of the architect’s Ft. George Vortex IPA (i.e. one of my favorite IPAs), and I couldn’t do it. The smell…gag. And last night, I didn’t even want cheese. Also, no onions, raw cucumbers, raw tomatoes, or mayo.

Things I miss: Walking up two flights of stairs without needing a recovery period.

Prep Work (Things to do between now & Alvie Bean Day)

January: Find a pediatrician, lock down a daycare (one last tour scheduled!), recycle all the old electronics in the office, get the carpet cleaning appointment made, find a maid service for quarterly deep cleans, finalize shower list for shower giver! Find a new doula!

February: Attend childbirth class, take babymoon (canceled SAD), make sure all essentials are purchased (diapers and carseat at this point!), pack hospital bag

March: Attend breastfeeding & newborn care class; install carseat, finish getting less essential essentials (rocking chair, crib, changing table, other random stuff), make a plan for freezer meals, finish getting nursery ready, sign up for FMLA

In conclusion: I know the next six-ish weeks will go both quickly and slowly. I think I will be ready. I am planning on working from home one day/week for the next few weeks and resting as much as possible. I am just trying to maintain my 2-3 hrs of exercise/week at this point, with exercise now be classified as yoga & slow swimming.

 

I don’t have a new bump pic (AGAIN!) this week, but I do have a picture that I think perfectly expresses how I feel about pancakes.

So much joy. Also, please note my “speedy” shirt (size XXL in men’s, btw) that perfectly describes me these days. Yay for pancakes & bacon!

photo credit: emily

Happy week! (Today is my last day of work this week! Yay!) Birthday weekend starts tomorrow!

 

CONTEST!

I love giving away stuff. And I love it when things are all about me! So – I am going to combine those two loves with this contest.

This is the “guess the day I give birth” contest. In the comments, enter the day you think I’ll deliver, and whoever is closest wins a prize! My actual due date is 4/2/12, so you have a starting point.

The prize: two movie passes to a Regal Entertainment Group theater, a Starbucks gift card ($20 value), and a couple of other surprises (which will depend on your location & whether or not this will be shipped or hand-delivered). If more than one person guesses the same day, the first person to guess that day will win the main prize, the second person will win 2nd place, and everyone else will be SOL.

This contest will close on 3/24/12.

Bumpday – 33 weeks

Feb 15th, 2012
by gazelle.
2 comments

It is entirely probable that 2 months from today, I will have an outside baby. The latest I can reasonably go – according to my midwives – is 42 weeks, which is 4/16. I am hoping the bean arrives sometime before then.

My last day of work is now scheduled for no later than 4/5/12 (i.e. 40 weeks 3 days). Even if my baby is still inside then, I am not coming back to work. No way, no how.

I am 7 weeks from my due date, and 4 weeks from being full term. Those numbers seem so close, yet so far away!

Baby size: Alvie is the size of a honeydew (emphasis on ewwwwww)! He weighs between 4.2 to 5.8 pounds and is between 17.2 to 18.7 inches long. As of last Monday, the u/s tech had him at 4.8 lbs, but I don’t think he’s quite that big. (There’s a 2 lb margin of error in ultrasound weight guessing.)

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I’m feeling: Okay. Tired. Ready to be done. Enormous. Happy that Alvie is so active. Sad that he’s trying to kill me. Bruised. (Seriously.)

Physical changes: Breathing is getting really difficult – I’m always short of breath. I hate having things touching my belly. I’m ginormous. I am almost looking forward to him dropping, just to take some pressure off my lungs, even if it does mean more pressure on my bladder (last night, I didn’t even wake up ONCE to pee!).

Baby stuff: His little bones are hardening and his ginormous brain is developing.

Body Image: Fine. Mostly. I feel big, but not fat, so that’s good, right? I also feel hairy.

Food stuff: Sugar cravings are OUT OF CONTROL. It’s insane.

Things I miss: Breathing.

Prep Work (Things to do between now & Alvie Bean Day)

January: Find a pediatrician, lock down a daycare (two more tours scheduled!), recycle all the old electronics in the office, get the carpet cleaning appointment made, find a maid service for quarterly deep cleans, finalize shower list for shower giver! Find a new doula!

February: Attend childbirth class, take babymoon (canceled – SAD), make sure all essentials are purchased (diapers and carseat at this point!), pack hospital bag

March: Attend breastfeeding & newborn care class; finish getting less essential essentials (rocking chair, crib, changing table, other random stuff), make a plan for freezer meals, finish getting nursery ready, sign up for FMLA

In conclusion:

The closer we get, the less anxiety I have over both the labor/birth part AND the being responsible for another human thing. I guess that’s why this is so uncomfortable. Because seriously – so uncomfortable. Not to mention bruised.

 

Anyways – it will all come soon enough!

 

Weekend in Review

Feb 13th, 2012
by gazelle.
2 comments

The weekend seemed like it went really fast. Friday was a really full day. I worked in the AM, had a yogathon meeting immediately after work, happy hour plans at 4:30, and dinner plans at 7.

I am not sure I can actually do four things a day anymore, even if I did take a 1-hour pregnancy pity party break b/w yogathon meeting & HH. I ended up flaking on my dinner plans, which was a fantastic decision for me (I was so exhausted that I could barely move by the time I got home), and a sad decision (I was really looking forward to seeing my dinner companions). I think I was in bed by 8 that night.

Saturday & Sunday, the architect and I spent most of our days at birth prep classes. Long days. Good information. The most uncomfortable chairs in the history of the universe. I was in bed last night by 8 again, although Saturday night, I think I made it until 9.

Since the classes were at the hospital where I work, I kind of feel like I’ve been to work every day for the last 17 years. This is going to be a long week, too. Doula appt tonight, midwife appt tomorrow night at 7:30 pm (happy valentine’s day!), busy work days. ALTHOUGH this is my last official week of school. My capstone is done, I just need to SAY I’m done. Officially. I’m going to read it one more time today, and then release it into the wild.

Fortunately, it’s a long weekend, and a short week next week (I am only working Tuesday & Wednesday next week, and have two 4-day weekends in a row! Woo!).

Photos from the weekend:

 

 

I love these early spring signs, even though I know that spring is a ways off yet; and that’s why February is 150% better than January; we get the spring tease! (Also, we get my birthday, in 11 days, in case you were counting.)

Happy week!

Three (3!) Things Thursday

Feb 9th, 2012
by gazelle.
4 comments

1. I’m pretty sure that Alvie Bean is having a major growth spurt, which in turn is causing my belly to have a major growth spurt, which causes discomfort and exhaustion. I’d be angry, but I think it’s futile to be angry at a fetus.

2. I had a mildly crappy swim last night, due to the aforementioned discomfort. BUT – I did get in the water for about 25 minutes, even if the swimming wasn’t great. AND, in the locker room after, a woman said she was really impressed w/ how well I was swimming for a preggo. She then ruined it – she asked when I was due, and when I said the beginning of April, she was shocked & asked if I was having twins. I’m just short-waisted! I am 7.5 months pregnant with only the one baby.

3. I am training a new employee this week, and I think she’ll be great. However, it’s so hard for me! I could do it faster myself! I am a terrible delegator. I know in the long run, it will be better, but for the next few weeks, it’s going to be hard to relinquish control. I told her that this was a limitation of mine and to let me know if I was getting to micro-managey or back seat drivery. I hope she actually does tell me. I don’t want to be obnoxious.

 

Bumpday – Week 32

Feb 8th, 2012
by gazelle.
5 comments

At this point, as long as I’m pregnant for 5 more weeks, I’ll be full-term. Five weeks ago, it was the beginning of 2012. That is not very long in terms of passage of time. I’m hoping for the more traditional 8 more weeks (hoping being such an interesting word for what I’m feeling about the end of this pregnancy).

So – Alvie Bean, in theory, is about 16.7 inches long & weighs about 3.75 lbs (food comparison of choice for this week: jicama).

Under Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Funny story – I had an ultrasound Monday & the tech said, “it looks like he’s a little big – about 14 pounds.” I then I almost fell off the table. I said, “FOURTEEN?”

She responded, very quickly, “No! Sorry! Four lbs, 14 oz.”

Which is about a pound bigger than expected. However, the doc said that he didn’t think Alvie was that big, and when all measurements were taken into consideration, Alvie is right on schedule for growth & development. Also, I do not have a 14 lb baby in me right now. (Other things I don’t have are TWINS, Facebook rumor-starters!)

I’m feeling: Tired. I had been keeping up with pretty decent energy levels since about week 16ish, but now, I’m just always tired. I’m even actually sleeping, and still – I could go for a nap RIGHT NOW. (I know you want to say it, but just hold yourself back.)

Physical changes: The belly button is still an innie!  I am starting to think it will stay that way until Alvie drops. He’s so high up right now, which makes it easier on my bladder, but not so much my lungs. The architect swears he can see my belly grow, but I think he’s just messing with me.  The weirdest thing is I now HATE things on my belly. HATE. The first thing I do when I get home at night is remove everything that touches my belly & just walk around with my giant naked stomach out.

Baby stuff: He’s still beautiful & perfect! And active. Oh so active. Which is good. Except at 3 AM.

Body Image: Actually, the bigger I get, the more fine I feel. I even saw how much I weighed at my last appointment, and was (mostly) okay with it.

Food stuff: GAH! SUGAR!

Things I miss: Getting in & out of my car easily, walking up the stairs without huffing & puffing. Beer.

Prep Work (Things to do between now & Alvie Bean Day)

January: Find a pediatrician, lock down a daycare (two more tours scheduled!), recycle all the old electronics in the office, get the carpet cleaning appointment made, find a maid service for quarterly deep cleans, finalize shower list for shower giver! Find a new doula!

February: Attend childbirth class, take babymoon, make sure all essentials are purchased (diapers and carseat at this point!), pack hospital bag

March: Attend breastfeeding & newborn care class; finish getting less essential essentials (rocking chair, crib, changing table, other random stuff), make a plan for freezer meals, finish getting nursery ready, sign up for FMLA

 

In Conclusion

Although I’m getting ready to be done, I know it’s not time yet – and I’m grateful. I need a little more time to finish up my to-do lists!

 

AND – check out the most adorable sweater in the land!

Blog reader & awesome person Eliza sent this to me. In fact, not only did she SEND it, she knitted it. How cute is this? Answer: Extraordinarily cute.

 

And – no bump pics today, but I do have headshots that I’m planning on using to get Alvie into the lucrative field of fetus modeling:

Great, right? Those are pictures of his head, they tell me. I am a little disappointed that we didn’t get a print of the picture where they were measuring his femur & the tech said, “Oh, that is definitely a boy. Check that out.” as she pointed to…ahem…certain parts of his anatomy. Because what boy doesn’t want to grow up knowing his mother published pictures of his privates on her blog?

 

Happy bumpday!

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